JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) Price Target to $13.00

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $9.00 to $13.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the mining company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 1.53% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Glj Research upgraded shares of Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $9.03 to $15.01 in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cleveland-Cliffs currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $12.85.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Up 0.7%

NYSE CLF traded up $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.80. 3,297,810 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,197,941. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 2.09. Cleveland-Cliffs has a 1 year low of $6.72 and a 1 year high of $16.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The mining company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.84 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a negative net margin of 6.42% and a negative return on equity of 15.48%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.92) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cleveland-Cliffs will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cleveland-Cliffs

In other news, EVP Celso L. Goncalves, Jr. sold 214,308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total transaction of $2,873,870.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 184,542 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,474,708.22. This represents a 53.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cleveland-Cliffs

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLF. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,391,397 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $722,318,000 after purchasing an additional 6,447,462 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,278,156 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $388,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,632,150 shares during the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 572.4% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 18,083,029 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $240,143,000 after purchasing an additional 15,393,507 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cleveland-Cliffs by 6.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 15,489,207 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $130,873,000 after purchasing an additional 925,031 shares during the period. Finally, Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. increased its stake in Cleveland-Cliffs by 90.1% in the 4th quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,358,230 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $164,117,000 after buying an additional 5,855,830 shares during the period. 67.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc is a leading North American producer of iron ore pellets and flat-rolled steel products. Tracing its roots to 1847, the company has evolved from an iron-ore mining concern in the Great Lakes region into a fully integrated steelmaker. Today, Cleveland-Cliffs operates iron ore mining complexes in Michigan and Minnesota as well as steelmaking and finishing facilities across the United States.

The company’s integrated platform begins with direct control of key raw materials, including iron ore and scrap, and extends through every stage of steel production.