Zacks Research Expects Weaker Earnings for Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research reduced their FY2024 EPS estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report issued on Thursday, February 13th. Zacks Research analyst A. Barman now forecasts that the mining company will post earnings of ($0.72) per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of ($0.61). The consensus estimate for Cleveland-Cliffs’ current full-year earnings is ($0.70) per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($0.68) EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.45) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.14) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.02) EPS and FY2025 earnings at ($0.52) EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Glj Research raised shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.27 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $12.50 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.68.

Cleveland-Cliffs Price Performance

Shares of CLF opened at $12.03 on Monday. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1-year low of $8.99 and a 1-year high of $22.97. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of -12.40 and a beta of 1.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $10.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.74.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cleveland-Cliffs

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLF. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can purchased a new position in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,453,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cleveland-Cliffs during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,381,000. Slate Path Capital LP raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Slate Path Capital LP now owns 16,208,000 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $152,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,239,000 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 25,893,879 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $330,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,110,651 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,751,789 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $458,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,556,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.