Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The mining company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $5.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.18 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $15.21. 9,998,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,895,205. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 12 month low of $13.84 and a 12 month high of $22.97. The company has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 2.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.90.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,300. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,300. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ben Oren acquired 6,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was acquired 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.44.

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.