Bank of America Sees New Leadership, Tweaked Strategy, Same Challenges for Cliffs Natural Resources

In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Timna Tanners reiterated an Underperform rating and $11.00 price target on Cliffs Natural Resources CLF. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We met with new CEO Lourenco Goncalves at the company's headquarters in Cleveland Thurs for an update on his vision for a return to its U.S. iron ore mining roots. He said Cliffs already had banks hired to pursue a sale of Australia iron ore mining, U.S. coal mines, and other ops but not core infrastructure. This was a departure from initial Casablanca plans to MLP the U.S. ops, spin off int'l assets,and sell infrastructure. Goncalves was cautious on iron ore prices and focused on cost cutting via modest U.S. capital investments. Just in the role 3 wks, he was visiting U.S. and Canada ops to focus on cost cutting and decide whether to continue expansion plans in Canada or shut down entirely.” Cliffs Natural Resources closed on Thursday at $15.06.