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

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 30.31% from the stock’s current price.

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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CLFD opened at $38.37 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $548.31 million, a P/E ratio of -45.14 and a beta of 1.27. 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’s 50-day moving average is $31.96 and its 200-day moving average is $36.05. Clearfield has a 1-year low of $24.78 and a 1-year high of $44.83.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $46.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.95 million. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 4.41% and a negative net margin of 7.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Clearfield will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.00 per share, for a total transaction of $155,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 1,266,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,270,676. This represents a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield during the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield during the third quarter worth approximately $80,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield during the second quarter worth approximately $85,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Clearfield by 8.3% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield during the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. 88.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.