Empowered Funds LLC Takes Position in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. $CLF

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 487,015 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 2nd quarter valued at $522,766,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,278,156 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $388,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,150 shares during the period. Castle Hook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% in the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $240,143,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393,507 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $130,873,000 after purchasing an additional 925,031 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total transaction of $2,873,870.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 184,542 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,474,708.22. This represents a 53.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CLF. Glj Research raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $15.01 to $15.60 in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.50 price target (up from $12.00) on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $14.00 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.96.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $11.55 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.66. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a one year low of $7.73 and a one year high of $16.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of -7.13 and a beta of 2.09.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The mining company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $5.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.15 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative return on equity of 13.37% and a negative net margin of 4.56%.Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.50) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post -0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs Company Profile

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.