Zacks Research Comments on Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note issued to investors on Monday, August 5th. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now anticipates that the mining company will post earnings per share of ($0.06) for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.05. The consensus estimate for Cleveland-Cliffs’ current full-year earnings is $0.17 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.11) EPS, FY2024 earnings at $0.12 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.20 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.23 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.34 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $0.99 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.28 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $0.53 EPS.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The mining company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 4.94% and a net margin of 0.21%. The business had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on CLF. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.44.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 0.1 %

CLF stock opened at $13.34 on Wednesday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.06 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.24 and a 200-day moving average of $18.11. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.87.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth approximately $839,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 82.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 392,842 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,932,000 after buying an additional 177,198 shares in the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs in the first quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 216,359 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $4,249,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

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

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.