Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price target on the communications equipment provider’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 44.63% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CLFD. Lake Street Capital upgraded Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Northland Securities boosted their target price on Clearfield from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Clearfield from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Roth Mkm lowered their price objective on Clearfield from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Clearfield presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Down 6.1 %

NASDAQ:CLFD traded down $2.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.57. The stock had a trading volume of 302,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,819. The stock has a market cap of $492.28 million, a P/E ratio of -55.66 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.55 and its 200 day moving average is $37.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 8.38 and a quick ratio of 5.73. Clearfield has a fifty-two week low of $23.45 and a fifty-two week high of $44.83.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $46.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.95 million. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 3.06% and a negative net margin of 5.26%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Clearfield will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLFD. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 249,087 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $9,704,000 after buying an additional 27,178 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Clearfield in the 3rd quarter valued at about $578,000. Bard Associates Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Clearfield by 31.3% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 11,632 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in Clearfield by 0.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,599 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,841,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. 88.73% of the stock is currently 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.