Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CLF. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $12.80 to $17.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.99.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 4.0%

CLF stock opened at $9.06 on Monday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $5.63 and a 1-year high of $16.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $11.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 1.91.

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

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, COO Clifford T. Smith sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.46, for a total transaction of $2,092,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 560,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,863,133.34. This represents a 26.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Edilson Camara acquired 19,700 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.13 per share, with a total value of $199,561.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,287.79. The trade was a 88.41% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 281.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,308,271 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $28,161,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703,791 shares during the period. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth about $10,932,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the third quarter worth about $9,171,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 17.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,010,913 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $97,733,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,035 shares during the period. Finally, Phocas Financial Corp. boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 474,862 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $6,306,000 after acquiring an additional 151,868 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

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.