Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $36.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 27.30% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Roth Mkm cut their price objective on Clearfield from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.20.

Clearfield Price Performance

NASDAQ CLFD opened at $28.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $416.00 million, a PE ratio of 34.49 and a beta of 1.32. Clearfield has a 1 year low of $22.91 and a 1 year high of $50.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.86 and its 200 day moving average is $27.89.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.88 million. Clearfield had a return on equity of 4.22% and a net margin of 6.00%. Clearfield’s quarterly revenue was down 60.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Clearfield will post -1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $29.62 per share, for a total transaction of $59,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 1,259,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,315,157.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 54.4% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 690 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG lifted its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 3.2% during the second quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 8,134 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 6.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,959 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 0.3% during the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 119,015 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $7,373,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its holdings in Clearfield by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 5,786 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. 88.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.