Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Raised to Outperform at Northland Securities

Northland Securities upgraded shares of Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $40.00 target price on the communications equipment provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $25.00.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CLFD. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $47.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Clearfield from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $42.40.

Clearfield Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLFD opened at $36.13 on Friday. Clearfield has a one year low of $22.91 and a one year high of $50.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $531.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.52 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.18.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 1.06% and a negative net margin of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $36.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 43.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Clearfield will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $29.62 per share, for a total transaction of $59,240.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,259,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,315,157.52. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 16.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLFD. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Clearfield by 134.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,130 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Clearfield by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,082 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Clearfield by 109.6% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 2,721 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Clearfield by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.