Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) Short Interest Update

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,810,000 shares, an increase of 11.9% from the May 31st total of 31,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 7.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Cleveland-Cliffs Trading Up 2.0 %

Cleveland-Cliffs stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.94. 7,044,625 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,889,666. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.94. Cleveland-Cliffs has a fifty-two week low of $13.84 and a fifty-two week high of $22.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.03.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly 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 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 analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, April 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the mining company to buy up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Cleveland-Cliffs to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $17.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup lowered 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.44.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of Cleveland-Cliffs stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.00 per share, with a total value of $425,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 59,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ben Oren purchased 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.99 per share, for a total transaction of $100,433.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 14,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $212,363.33. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 98,950 shares of company stock worth $1,639,638 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the third quarter worth $52,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Cleveland-Cliffs by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 483,676 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $7,560,000 after acquiring an additional 14,030 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 37.2% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 43,582 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 11,807 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 12.6% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 83,605 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 9,342 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 108.7% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 343,465 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 178,864 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.68% of the company’s stock.

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.