Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) Short Interest Update

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,320,000 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the March 31st total of 2,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 206,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 11.2 days. Approximately 18.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $37,315,157.52. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 16.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the fourth quarter worth $5,148,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Clearfield by 1,247.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 210,717 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,128,000 after acquiring an additional 195,082 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Clearfield in the third quarter valued at $1,247,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Clearfield by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,160,764 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,267,000 after buying an additional 10,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Clearfield by 69.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 17,612 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 7,226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Clearfield Trading Up 2.7 %

Clearfield stock opened at $30.94 on Thursday. Clearfield has a twelve month low of $22.91 and a twelve month high of $50.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.13 million, a P/E ratio of 37.73 and a beta of 1.32.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.35) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by $0.05. Clearfield had a return on equity of 4.22% and a net margin of 6.00%. The business had revenue of $34.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 60.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Clearfield will post -1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLFD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Clearfield in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Clearfield in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clearfield has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

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.