Clearfield’s (CLFD) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $36.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 26.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Roth Mkm lowered their price target on Clearfield from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.20.

Clearfield Trading Down 1.4 %

CLFD traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 159,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,595. The firm has a market cap of $418.65 million, a P/E ratio of 34.71 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.89. Clearfield has a 52-week low of $22.91 and a 52-week high of $50.82.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.88 million. Clearfield had a return on equity of 4.22% and a net margin of 6.00%. The firm’s revenue was down 60.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.00 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Clearfield will post -1.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth acquired 2,000 shares of Clearfield stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.62 per share, with a total value of $59,240.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,259,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,315,157.52. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP acquired a new position in Clearfield during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,148,000. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Clearfield during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,247,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Clearfield by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,160,764 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,267,000 after acquiring an additional 10,370 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Clearfield by 69.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 17,612 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 7,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in Clearfield by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,689 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. 88.73% of the stock is 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.