Barclays Upgrades Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) to “Equal Weight”

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $15.00 price target on the mining company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $12.00. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 14.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on CLF. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, September 7th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.60.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE CLF opened at $13.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market cap of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of -15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.99. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $7.73 and a one year high of $15.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $12.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.35.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The mining company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.04. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 6.83% and a negative net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $5.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.51) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Edilson Camara purchased 7,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.49 per share, for a total transaction of $99,826.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 64,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,032.33. This represents a 12.91% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter worth $522,766,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $130,873,000 after acquiring an additional 925,031 shares during the period. PointState Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter valued at $61,805,000. Avala Global LP acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 2nd quarter valued at $58,325,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 208.2% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,021,829 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $56,545,000 after acquiring an additional 4,067,994 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is a vertically integrated steel and iron ore company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Its operations span iron ore mining and pellet production, direct-reduced iron and coke production, and steelmaking and finishing. The company makes flat-rolled steel products, including hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated steel, as well as plate and other specialty products. Its customers serve industries such as automotive, infrastructure, manufacturing and appliances. Founded in 1847 as an iron ore mining company, Cleveland-Cliffs expanded into steelmaking and has built an integrated production network across the United States and Canada.