Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Shares Down 7% – Here’s What Happened

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) fell 7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $35.92 and last traded at $35.92. 41,890 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 156,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CLFD. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Roth Mkm lowered their price target on Clearfield from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Lake Street Capital upgraded Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $47.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Northland Securities lifted their price target on shares of Clearfield from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clearfield currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Clearfield Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $517.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.92 and a beta of 1.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 8.38 and a quick ratio of 5.73.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.30. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 5.26% and a negative return on equity of 3.06%. The business had revenue of $48.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.13 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Clearfield, Inc. will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In related news, Director Walter Louis Jones, Jr. purchased 1,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $37.77 per share, for a total transaction of $50,007.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 6,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $228,923.97. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 16.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLFD. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,599 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,841,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the third quarter worth $300,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Clearfield by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield in the 2nd quarter valued at about $453,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the 2nd quarter valued at about $217,000. 88.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Clearfield

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.