Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target to $12.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised Cleveland-Cliffs’ price target from $11 to $12 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying roughly 1.3% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but centered on “Hold”: the consensus price target is $11.96, with two Buy, seven Hold, and two Sell ratings.
• Cleveland-Cliffs slightly beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share versus the estimated $0.21 loss, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year to $5.23 billion.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the mining company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 1.30% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, May 1st. Glj Research raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $15.01 to $15.60 in a report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup restated a "positive" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $11.96.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

NYSE CLF traded up $0.58 on Monday, hitting $11.85. 6,880,558 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,277,988. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $7.73 and a 1-year high of $16.70. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $11.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of -7.36 and a beta of 2.09.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The mining company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $5.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.15 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 4.56% and a negative return on equity of 13.37%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.50) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total value of $2,873,870.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 184,542 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,474,708.22. The trade was a 53.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.95% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 1st quarter valued at about $339,000. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 49,955 shares of the mining company's stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 10,733 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 143,264 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 6,073 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 47.4% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 22,167 shares of the mining company's stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 7,127 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 20.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,081,241 shares of the mining company's stock worth $23,417,000 after purchasing an additional 520,120 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source