Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Receives $19.92 Average PT from Analysts

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Reduce" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.92.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CLF. Citigroup cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.81. The company had a trading volume of 7,242,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,153,586. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock's 50-day moving average is $20.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52 week low of $13.61 and a 52 week high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The mining company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.16 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.81% and a return on equity of 6.79%. Cleveland-Cliffs's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.02 per share, for a total transaction of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 94,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,899,637.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 30.6% in the third quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 514,890 shares of the mining company's stock worth $8,048,000 after acquiring an additional 120,540 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $31,083,000 after buying an additional 1,404,491 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 55.5% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 1,743,513 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $27,251,000 after buying an additional 621,937 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at $4,970,000. Finally, Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at $3,908,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company's stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc in August 2017.