Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Clearfield presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Performance

CLFD stock opened at $33.22 on Friday. Clearfield has a one year low of $24.78 and a one year high of $44.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 6.69 and a current ratio of 9.43. The firm has a market cap of $474.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -39.08 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.19.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 7.47% and a negative return on equity of 4.41%. The company had revenue of $46.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.17 EPS. Clearfield’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Clearfield will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Clearfield

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $31.00 per share, for a total transaction of $155,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,270,676. The trade was a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLFD. Creative Planning grew its position in Clearfield by 2.5% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,088 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,782,000 after buying an additional 2,426 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Clearfield by 83.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 228,173 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $8,798,000 after buying an additional 103,648 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its position in Clearfield by 12.2% during the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 249,087 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after buying an additional 27,178 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Clearfield during the second quarter valued at $453,000. Finally, Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Clearfield during the second quarter valued at $7,801,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

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.