Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. Cleveland-Cliffs had a return on equity of 8.69% and a net margin of 1.78%. The firm had revenue of $5.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.11) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CLF traded down $0.36 on Thursday, hitting $17.96. 2,624,185 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,674,985. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 2.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.00. Cleveland-Cliffs has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year high of $22.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Cleveland-Cliffs declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CLF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. 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. BNP Paribas lowered 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 note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In related news, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,841,834.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $553,811.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total transaction of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 90,286 shares in the company, valued at $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688 over the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.