Cleveland-Cliffs
Shares of iron ore miner and steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. (NYSE: CLF) have dropped by about 46% over the past 12 months, including a boost of 14% over the past six months. The decline began just over a year ago, and the stock posted its 52-week low in early November. The company released preliminary results for the first quarter last week, forecasting a profit of around $200 million on sales of $5.2 billion. That sent the stock up about 10%, a gain that has since been given back. The company reports first-quarter results after markets close on Monday.
Of 12 brokerages covering Cleveland-Cliffs stock, five have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the others rate it at Hold. At a recent price of around $16.90 a share, the implied gain based on a median price target of $22.50 is 33.7%. At the high price target of $27.00, the upside potential is nearly 60%.
Analysts forecast first-quarter revenue of $5.21 billion, which would be up 3.4% sequentially but down 12.6% year over year. Analysts anticipate an adjusted loss per share of $0.14, down from a per-share loss of 0.43 in the prior quarter and way below EPS of $1.57 in the year-ago quarter. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts expect to see EPS of $1.75, down 33.6%, on sales of $21.35 billion, down 7.1%.
The stock trades at 9.6 times expected 2023 EPS, 7.1 times estimated 2024 earnings of $2.39 and 7.9 times estimated 2025 earnings of $2.14 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $11.82 to $32.72, and the company does not pay an annual dividend. Total shareholder return over the past year was negative 46.23%.
