Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Receives Underperform Rating from Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research reissued their underperform rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. Wolfe Research currently has a $18.00 target price on the mining company's stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $19.92.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

NYSE:CLF traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $21.91. The stock had a trading volume of 10,852,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,558,760. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year high of $22.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The mining company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.81% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.24 per share, with a total value of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $550,953.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688. Insiders own 1.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 39.8% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 43,986 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 12,531 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 12.7% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 259,092 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $8,577,000 after purchasing an additional 29,178 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.1% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 58,149 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 167,800 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $5,405,000 after purchasing an additional 21,233 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.