Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com cut Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CLFD opened at $37.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 9.43, a quick ratio of 6.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a market cap of $541.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.54 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.04. Clearfield has a 52 week low of $24.78 and a 52 week high of $44.83.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 7.47% and a negative return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $46.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Clearfield will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.00 per share, for a total transaction of $155,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,270,676. This trade represents a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Clearfield by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 14,810 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 3,764 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Clearfield by 83.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 228,173 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,798,000 after acquiring an additional 103,648 shares during the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield in the second quarter worth approximately $7,801,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in Clearfield in the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Clearfield during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. 88.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.