Insider Buying: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Director Purchases $100,433.00 in Stock

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Director Ben Oren purchased 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at $212,363.33. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

NYSE CLF opened at $14.91 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.98 and its 200-day moving average is $19.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 2.08. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.84 and a 12-month high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.11) earnings per share. Cleveland-Cliffs’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in 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 usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter valued at about $117,585,000. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 4,037,507 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $82,446,000 after purchasing an additional 334,739 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,542,004 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $72,328,000 after buying an additional 194,948 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.8% in the first quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 3,374,716 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $76,741,000 after buying an additional 410,182 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 10.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,884,249 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $65,589,000 after buying an additional 275,265 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CLF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.79.

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.