Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $31.91, but opened at $39.90. Clearfield shares last traded at $36.87, with a volume of 284,385 shares trading hands.

The communications equipment provider reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 1.06%. The company had revenue of $36.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 43.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CLFD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Clearfield in a research note on Wednesday. Northland Securities raised shares of Clearfield from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Clearfield from $36.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Clearfield by 172.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 113,904 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,531,000 after buying an additional 72,164 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Clearfield by 187.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,330 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 7,388 shares during the last quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Clearfield during the fourth quarter worth $4,310,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Clearfield by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,712 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ACK Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Clearfield during the fourth quarter worth $13,025,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Clearfield Price Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.17. The stock has a market cap of $531.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -144.52 and a beta of 1.33.

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.