Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a decrease of 7.8% from the September 15th total of 1,540,000 shares. Approximately 12.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 105,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 13.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CLFD. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Lake Street Capital raised Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Clearfield from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Clearfield from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Northland Securities upped their price objective on Clearfield from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Clearfield has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clearfield news, Director Walter Louis Jones, Jr. purchased 1,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $37.77 per share, with a total value of $50,007.48. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,923.97. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLFD. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Clearfield by 187.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,330 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 7,388 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 172.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 113,904 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 72,164 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 57.3% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 11,998 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,371 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Clearfield by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,012,432 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,223,000 after buying an additional 14,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teton Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield in the first quarter valued at approximately $555,000. 88.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clearfield Stock Performance

NASDAQ CLFD traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $37.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 93,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 158,854. The company has a current ratio of 8.38, a quick ratio of 5.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.85. Clearfield has a 52 week low of $22.91 and a 52 week high of $44.83. The stock has a market cap of $529.04 million, a PE ratio of -148.84 and a beta of 1.34.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by $0.30. The business had revenue of $48.79 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.13 million. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 3.06% and a negative net margin of 5.26%. The business’s revenue was down 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Clearfield will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Clearfield Company Profile

Clearfield, Inc manufactures and sells various fiber connectivity products in the United States and internationally. The company offers FieldSmart, a series of panels, cabinets, wall boxes, and other enclosures; WaveSmart, an optical components integrated for signal coupling, splitting, termination, multiplexing, demultiplexing, and attenuation for integration within its fiber management platform; and active cabinet products.