Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 28.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,584 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,453 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $1,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLF. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,053 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,359 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 50.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,850 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.4% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,151 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves acquired 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,759,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. acquired 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,759,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:CLF traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.17. 8,560,581 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,420,341. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a one year low of $13.84 and a one year high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.11) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CLF shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.44.

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.