Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. $CLF Holdings Lifted by Phocas Financial Corp.

Key Points

• Phocas Financial increased its stake in Cleveland‑Cliffs by 47% in Q4 to 474,862 shares (about $6.31M), owning roughly 0.10% of the company after the purchase.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently: CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares for ~$37.26M and COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares for ~$2.09M, leaving insiders with about 0.95% ownership.
• Cleveland‑Cliffs reported Q results with EPS of -$0.43 (beating estimates of -$0.62) but revenue of $4.31B missed expectations, and analysts’ consensus is a "Hold" with an average target of $12.69.

Phocas Financial Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Free Report) by 47.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 474,862 shares of the mining company's stock after buying an additional 151,868 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. owned 0.10% of Cleveland-Cliffs worth $6,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 27,450,442 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $208,623,000 after buying an additional 4,603,807 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 17.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,010,913 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $97,733,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,035 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 200.4% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,329,414 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $48,104,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222,528 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 960.4% in the third quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 4,683,251 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $57,136,000 after purchasing an additional 4,241,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 57.9% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 4,195,179 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $51,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,538,220 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total transaction of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. The trade was a 26.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total value of $37,260,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

CLF opened at $9.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 1.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.89 and a 200-day moving average of $11.86. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 52-week low of $5.63 and a 52-week high of $16.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.60 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 18.94% and a negative net margin of 7.91%.The firm's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.68) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CLF. Citigroup boosted their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. KeyCorp began coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a "sector weight" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Finally, Glj Research reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $9.42 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.69.

Cleveland-Cliffs Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company's integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.

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