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

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 32.17% from the stock’s current price.

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

Clearfield Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLFD opened at $37.83 on Thursday. Clearfield has a fifty-two week low of $24.78 and a fifty-two week high of $44.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $540.55 million, a P/E ratio of -44.51 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 9.43 and a quick ratio of 6.69.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 4.41% and a negative net margin of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $46.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Clearfield will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clearfield

In other news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $31.00 per share, with a total value of $155,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,270,676. The trade was a 0.40 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLFD. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Clearfield in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,801,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Clearfield by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 228,173 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,798,000 after purchasing an additional 103,648 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Clearfield by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,971 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 54,670 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its stake in shares of Clearfield by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 249,087 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 27,178 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clearfield in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $578,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

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.