Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.43.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CLF shares. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Glj Research dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.54 to $12.90 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jane M. Cronin purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $10.56 per share, with a total value of $105,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 24,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,952.32. This represents a 68.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John T. Baldwin purchased 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.70 per share, for a total transaction of $34,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 133,227 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,159,074.90. The trade was a 3.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 23,500 shares of company stock worth $243,095 in the last three months. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 299.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,987 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,490 shares during the last quarter. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 207.7% during the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 4,000 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 7.1 %

CLF opened at $10.42 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.74 and a beta of 1.94. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $8.50 and a twelve month high of $22.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.41.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The mining company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 2.31% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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.