New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 54,986 Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

New York State Common Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 340,649 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 54,986 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $6,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,850 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CLF opened at $17.60 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $20.61 and its 200 day moving average is $19.07. The stock has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.10. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.61 and a 1-year high of $22.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $3,778,275.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $553,811.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at $10,793,917.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 87,000 shares of company stock worth $1,470,640 and sold 221,066 shares worth $4,464,688. Company insiders own 1.76% 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.