Citigroup cut shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning. The firm currently has $36.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $50.00.
“We are downgrading CLF to Neutral from Buy following disappointing iron ore pricing guidance across the various regions and cost guidance for Canada. This was compounded by the dividend cut and proposed equity raise. We are cutting our 2013 estimate to $1.14 from $4.00 based on an unchanged benchmark iron ore price forecast of $120/tonne, lowering our target price to $36. Our 2014 estimate drops to $2.40 from $5.30 based on $122/tonne iron ore. The primary driver of the lowered earnings outlook was lower than expected realized pricing from APIO and ECIO, as indicated by company guidance.,” Citigroup’s analyst commented.
A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on CLF. Analysts at Macquarie downgraded shares of Cliffs Natural Resources from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday. They now have a $32.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at TheStreet reiterated a hold rating on shares of Cliffs Natural Resources in a research note to investors on Monday, February 4th. Finally, analysts at CRT Capital reiterated a buy rating on shares of Cliffs Natural Resources in a research note to investors on Wednesday, January 23rd. They now have a $50.00 price target on the stock.
Two research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, and three have assigned a sell rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of hold and an average price target of $35.67.
Cliffs Natural Resources traded down 2.14% on Wednesday, hitting $28.85. Cliffs Natural Resources has a 52-week low of $28.05 and a 52-week high of $73.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $36.52. The company’s market cap is $4.108 billion.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 20th.
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