Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.8920.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CLF. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, February 9th. KeyCorp cut Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $12.80 to $17.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Cleveland-Cliffs from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $11.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total transaction of $2,092,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 3,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.42, for a total transaction of $37,260,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 4,315.6% in the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 117.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 306.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,461 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 94.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,505 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

CLF stock opened at $10.79 on Tuesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $5.63 and a twelve month high of $16.70. The firm has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.69 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The mining company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.60 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 7.91% and a negative return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.68) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.