Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Stock Price Down 4.5%

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) shares traded down 4.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $14.88 and last traded at $14.94. 3,472,501 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 8,402,372 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. BNP Paribas downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.79.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Down 4.5 %

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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.24. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 2.08.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 22nd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the mining company to reacquire up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves acquired 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,759,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,242,331.64. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves acquired 60,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,759,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 90,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,850 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.