Insider Buying: Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) CEO Purchases $1,005,600.00 in Stock

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.76 per share, with a total value of $1,005,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Lourenco Goncalves also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 6th, Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $3,778,275.84.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 1.9 %

CLF stock opened at $17.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.07. The company has a market capitalization of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 2.10. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 1.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CLF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,571 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 2,858.0% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.