Lourenco Goncalves, the CEO of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF), expressed interest in potentially making a bid for U.S. Steel (NYSE:X) in the $30s per share range if the deal with Nippon Steel fails. The stance was confirmed during discussions with Bloomberg and JPMorgan analyst Bill Peterson. This comes after X shares dropped 6.4% following President Joe Biden’s call for U.S. Steel to remain under American ownership, casting doubt on Nippon Steel’s acquisition attempts.
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Goncalves highlighted a specific interest in preserving blast furnace assets and indicated a willingness to negotiate a deal at a significantly lower rate than Nippon Steel’s $55 offer, emphasizing union support for any potential bid.
However, it’s worth noting that U.S. Steel rejected a previous $7.3 billion offer ($54 per share) from Cleveland-Cliffs. In addition, the Biden administration had previously concluded that a sale to Cleveland-Cliffs wasn’t viable. Goncalves has since stated that the original proposal for U.S. Steel is no longer on the table.
Is CLF Stock a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on CLF stock based on one Buy, four Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After an 11% rally in its share price over the past year, the average CLF price target of $19.32 per share implies 1.73% downside risk.
