Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Given Buy Rating at B. Riley

B. Riley reissued their buy rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $23.00 price objective on the mining company’s stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q2 2024 earnings at ($0.01) EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $0.00 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $0.27 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CLF. BNP Paribas lowered 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 note on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $15.01 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.98. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1 year low of $13.84 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.08.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 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 analyst estimates 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 was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.11) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the mining company to repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 7,250 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,709,142.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ben Oren acquired 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at $212,363.33. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.98 per share, with a total value of $108,605.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 314,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,709,142.76. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 98,950 shares of company stock valued at $1,639,638. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

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.