B. Riley Comments on Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:CLF)

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE:CLF) – Research analysts at B. Riley decreased their Q2 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 30th. B. Riley analyst L. Pipes now anticipates that the mining company will earn $0.11 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.39. B. Riley has a “Buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cleveland-Cliffs’ current full-year earnings is $1.56 per share. B. Riley also issued estimates for Cleveland-Cliffs’ Q3 2024 earnings at $0.31 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.83 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.15 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Argus lowered Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Cleveland-Cliffs from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. BNP Paribas downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.42.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CLF opened at $16.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.08. The stock has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 2.10. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 52-week low of $13.61 and a 52-week high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The mining company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 17.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ron A. Bloom bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.00 per share, for a total transaction of $425,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 59,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,300. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lourenco Goncalves bought 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,005,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,759,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,242,331.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 87,000 shares of company stock worth $1,470,640 and have sold 221,066 shares worth $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLF. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,824 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,507 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 56,347 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 3,198 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 554,022 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $8,659,000 after buying an additional 125,884 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.