PFG Investments LLC Acquires New Shares in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF)

PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 17,890 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Korea Investment CORP increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 514,890 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $8,048,000 after buying an additional 120,540 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 240.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,988,689 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $31,083,000 after buying an additional 1,404,491 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,970,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,908,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Cleveland-Cliffs by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 554,022 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $8,659,000 after purchasing an additional 125,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 6.5 %

Shares of NYSE CLF traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.89. The company had a trading volume of 14,294,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,896,916. The company has a market capitalization of $8.03 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 2.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a one year low of $13.61 and a one year 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. Cleveland-Cliffs’s revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. will post 1.56 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the firm’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 $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Lourenco Goncalves sold 187,136 shares of the firm’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 $3,778,275.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,699,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,494,606.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arlene M. Yocum acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,899,637.74. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock worth $4,464,688 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CLF shares. B. Riley lowered their target price on Cleveland-Cliffs from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Argus cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.42.

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.