Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target Cut to $23.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the mining company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas downgraded 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Wolfe Research reiterated an underperform rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $22.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Cleveland-Cliffs stock opened at $18.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1 year low of $13.61 and a 1 year high of $22.97. The company has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.00.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.01). Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.24 per share, for a total transaction of $506,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 27,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $550,953.04. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.02 per share, for a total transaction of $40,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 94,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CLF. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 15,926 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 3,711 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,824 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,507 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 25,248 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,469 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.