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

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Clearfield from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clearfield presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Performance

CLFD stock opened at $29.93 on Wednesday. Clearfield has a 1-year low of $26.94 and a 1-year high of $44.83. The company has a current ratio of 10.57, a quick ratio of 7.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $422.97 million, a PE ratio of -47.51 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.09.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 3.31% and a negative net margin of 5.41%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Clearfield will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In other news, COO John P. Hill sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.26, for a total transaction of $550,087.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 189,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,608.36. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLFD. Barclays PLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 54,670 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Clearfield in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,594,000. Drum Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,539,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Clearfield by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 322,378 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,994,000 after acquiring an additional 48,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Clearfield during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,311,000. Institutional investors 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.