Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $15.00 target price on the mining company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $12.00.

CLF has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, October 19th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.60.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF stock traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $12.65. 12,973,696 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,142,334. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $7.73 and a twelve month high of $15.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 1.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 19th. The mining company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $5.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.51) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Edilson Camara bought 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.49 per share, for a total transaction of $99,826.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 64,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,032.33. The trade was a 12.91% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 95.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 302,972 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $2,560,000 after acquiring an additional 147,899 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 68.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 212,522 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 86,036 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter worth approximately $8,562,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the second quarter worth approximately $505,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 23.0% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 662,180 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $5,595,000 after purchasing an additional 123,660 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is 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.