Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Trading Up 6.5% – Here’s What Happened

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD)’s stock price traded up 6.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $36.92 and last traded at $37.00. 64,876 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 115,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on CLFD shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Clearfield in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com cut shares of 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Up 5.5 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $517.67 million, a PE ratio of -43.22 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.10.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm 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 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Clearfield, Inc. will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.00 per share, for a total transaction of $155,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,270,676. This trade represents a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 17.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearfield

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 8.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of 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. Bard Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bard Associates Inc. now owns 12,220 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Clearfield by 2.7% in the third 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. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Clearfield in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.