Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target Cut to $24.00

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price objective lowered by B. Riley from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm 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.

CLF has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wolfe Research reiterated an underperform rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Argus cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.42.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 1.9 %

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $17.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.10. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.61 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $20.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 90,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 87,000 shares of company stock worth $1,470,640 and have sold 221,066 shares worth $4,464,688. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,824 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 31.2% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 56,347 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $881,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 554,022 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $8,659,000 after buying an additional 125,884 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company 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.