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 released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has 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 report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Clearfield presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of CLFD stock opened at $29.93 on Wednesday. Clearfield has a 52-week low of $26.94 and a 52-week high of $44.83. The stock has a market cap of $422.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.51 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.17 and its 200-day moving average is $34.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 7.41 and a current ratio of 10.57.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Clearfield will post -0.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clearfield

In other Clearfield news, COO John P. Hill sold 16,539 shares of Clearfield stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.26, for a total value of $550,087.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 189,886 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,608.36. The trade was a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 17.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Clearfield during the third quarter worth about $80,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Clearfield by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,062 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Clearfield by 164.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,971 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 54,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Clearfield by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. 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.