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 issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 31.34% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on CLFD. Roth Mkm dropped their price objective on shares of Clearfield from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Northland Securities upped their price objective on shares of Clearfield from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Lake Street Capital raised shares of Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Clearfield to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clearfield currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Price Performance

NASDAQ:CLFD opened at $38.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $542.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -152.28 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.38, a quick ratio of 5.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.04. Clearfield has a 12-month low of $22.91 and a 12-month high of $44.83.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by $0.30. The company had revenue of $48.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.13 million. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 5.26% and a negative return on equity of 3.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Clearfield will post -0.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clearfield news, Director Walter Louis Jones, Jr. bought 1,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $37.77 per share, with a total value of $50,007.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,061 shares in the company, valued at $228,923.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 16.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLFD. ACK Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Clearfield during the 4th quarter worth approximately $13,025,000. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Clearfield in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,801,000. Harber Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Clearfield in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,310,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Clearfield by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 228,173 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,798,000 after acquiring an additional 103,648 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Clearfield by 172.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 113,904 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,531,000 after acquiring an additional 72,164 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.