Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Clearfield currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.75.

Clearfield Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLFD traded down $0.37 on Monday, hitting $32.61. The company had a trading volume of 89,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 134,317. Clearfield has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $44.83. The stock has a market cap of $460.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.76 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.68. The company has a current ratio of 9.43, a quick ratio of 6.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 5.41% and a negative return on equity of 3.29%. Analysts expect that Clearfield will post -0.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John P. Hill sold 16,539 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.26, for a total value of $550,087.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 189,886 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,315,608.36. This represents a 8.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Ronald G. Roth bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.00 per share, with a total value of $155,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,270,676. The trade was a 0.40 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Clearfield by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,172 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Clearfield in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Clearfield in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Clearfield in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Clearfield by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,641 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. 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.