Van ECK Associates Corp Has $6.93 Million Stock Position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 339,379 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 79,348 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $6,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CLF. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings 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 valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom acquired 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $54,494,606.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 87,000 shares of company stock worth $1,470,640 and sold 221,066 shares worth $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

CLF stock opened at $17.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $20.61 and a 200-day moving average of $19.07. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.10. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.61 and a 12-month high of $22.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CLF shares. TheStreet downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.42.

Cleveland-Cliffs Profile

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.