Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Director Ron A. Bloom Purchases 25,000 Shares

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $17.60 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.10. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.61 and a 52-week high of $22.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.61 and a 200-day moving average of $19.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the mining company to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Argus downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, B. Riley lowered their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 11.1% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 28,716 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 2,874 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter valued at $1,687,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.3% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 20,037 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 22.9% during the first quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 12,900 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the first quarter valued at $799,000. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.