Zacks Research Weighs in on Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 16th. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now expects that the mining company will post earnings of $0.37 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.45. The consensus estimate for Cleveland-Cliffs’ current full-year earnings is $1.63 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q3 2025 earnings at $0.60 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.31 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.42 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.63 EPS.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The mining company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.05). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.81% and a return on equity of 6.79%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Argus downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.92.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of CLF stock opened at $20.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.93 and its 200-day moving average is $18.85. The stock has a market cap of $9.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.05, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 2.03. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52-week low of $13.61 and a 52-week high of $22.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arlene M. Yocum acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Arlene M. Yocum purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, with a total value of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $553,811.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,793,917.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 56,453,183 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,034,787,000 after buying an additional 2,041,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,757,539 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $616,355,000 after buying an additional 387,794 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,000,065 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $322,771,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295,448 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,476,201 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $136,853,000 after acquiring an additional 150,571 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,855,860 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $110,448,000 after buying an additional 98,117 shares during 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.