Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target Lowered to $24.00 at B. Riley

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price target decreased by B. Riley from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the mining company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q2 2024 earnings at $0.11 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.31 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.42 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.83 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.15 EPS.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on CLF. Wolfe Research reissued an underperform rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.42.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

NYSE CLF opened at $17.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.07. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52-week low of $13.61 and a 52-week high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the mining company to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, for a total transaction of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at $1,899,637.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.02 per share, for a total transaction of $40,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.9% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,053 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 27,337 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,359 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 50.3% during 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 during the last quarter. 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.