Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research restated an underperform rating and issued a $18.00 target price 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 report on Thursday, February 8th. BNP Paribas lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. 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 report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $19.92.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CLF opened at $20.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.91. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52 week low of $13.61 and a 52 week high of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.89.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The mining company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 6.79% and a net margin of 1.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 90,286 shares in the company, valued at $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688 over the last three months. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLF. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 218.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. 67.68% of the stock is currently 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.