Research Analysts Offer Predictions for Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note issued on Monday, August 5th. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now expects that the mining company will post earnings of ($0.06) per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.05. The consensus estimate for Cleveland-Cliffs’ current full-year earnings is $0.17 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.11) EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.20 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.23 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.34 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.99 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.28 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $0.53 EPS.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The mining company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 0.21% and a return on equity of 4.94%. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $23.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

NYSE CLF opened at $13.34 on Wednesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.06 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.11. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Ben Oren purchased 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $212,363.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. acquired 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ben Oren bought 6,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,363.33. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,585,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 23.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,597,662 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $86,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069,907 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $82,446,000 after acquiring an additional 334,739 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $72,328,000 after purchasing an additional 194,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,374,716 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $76,741,000 after purchasing an additional 410,182 shares during the last quarter. 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.