Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) by 28.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,584 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,453 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs were worth $1,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 41.7% in the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 1.8 %

CLF stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $16.17. The stock had a trading volume of 8,560,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,420,341. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.67. 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 cap of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.84 and a 12-month high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced 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). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, April 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the mining company to repurchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. bought 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.98 per share, for a total transaction of $108,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 314,362 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,142.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ron A. Bloom acquired 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. purchased 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on CLF. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs 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.