Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 46.20% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Lake Street Capital raised shares of Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Northland Securities raised their price target on Clearfield from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Clearfield from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Clearfield from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Clearfield Price Performance

NASDAQ CLFD opened at $34.20 on Friday. Clearfield has a 1-year low of $23.45 and a 1-year high of $44.83. The company has a quick ratio of 5.73, a current ratio of 8.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.65.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last issued 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 5.26% and a negative return on equity of 3.06%. The company had revenue of $46.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Clearfield will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearfield

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CLFD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Clearfield by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,012,432 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,223,000 after purchasing an additional 14,307 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 12.2% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 249,087 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,704,000 after buying an additional 27,178 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 103,648 shares during the period. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Clearfield in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,801,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in Clearfield by 0.5% during 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. 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.