Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

CLF has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.92.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 1.8 %

CLF stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $20.83. 8,341,023 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,399,602. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12-month low of $13.61 and a 12-month high of $22.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 1.81%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.30) EPS. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Arlene M. Yocum acquired 2,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.02 per share, for a total transaction of $40,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom acquired 25,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum acquired 2,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.