Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) to Repurchase $1.50 billion in Outstanding Stock

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the mining company to purchase up to 17.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Cleveland-Cliffs Stock Performance

Shares of CLF stock traded down $0.24 on Wednesday, hitting $18.31. The company had a trading volume of 14,390,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,757,485. The firm has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 2.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Cleveland-Cliffs has a twelve month low of $13.61 and a twelve month high of $22.97.

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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 analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. Cleveland-Cliffs had a net margin of 1.78% and a return on equity of 8.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cleveland-Cliffs will post 1.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CLF shares. TheStreet downgraded Cleveland-Cliffs from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised Cleveland-Cliffs from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Argus cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. BNP Paribas cut Cleveland-Cliffs from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $16.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Cleveland-Cliffs in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,841,834.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Cleveland-Cliffs news, EVP Terry G. Fedor sold 27,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $553,811.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 534,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,793,917.23. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Susan Miranda Green sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.40, for a total value of $132,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 90,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,841,834.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,066 shares of company stock valued at $4,464,688. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.