Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 35.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Down 0.4 %

CLFD opened at $36.94 on Friday. Clearfield has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $44.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.93. 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 has a market cap of $521.96 million, a PE ratio of -43.46 and a beta of 1.28.

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 4.41% and a negative net margin of 7.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Clearfield will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was purchased 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 17.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield in the third quarter worth approximately $53,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield in the third quarter worth approximately $80,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Clearfield in the second quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Clearfield in the third quarter worth approximately $300,000. 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.