Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.43.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CLF shares. Glj Research reduced their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:CLF opened at $10.16 on Tuesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $8.50 and a twelve month high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.37. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.47 and a beta of 1.94.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 0.59% and a negative net margin of 2.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Keith Koci purchased 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.81 per share, for a total transaction of $102,695.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 543,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,874,964.75. The trade was a 1.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John T. Baldwin acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. This trade represents a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 299.8% during the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% during the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

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.