Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) Short Interest Up 26.8% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 26.8% in March, to 1,337,054 shares as of March 31 (about 11.9% of shares sold short) with a days-to-cover ratio of 10.1, signaling elevated bearish positioning.
• Wall Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with a target price of $43.50; recent results beat estimates (Q1 EPS -$0.02 vs. -$0.04; revenue $34.34M) and Clearfield gave FY2026 guidance of $0.48–$0.62 EPS despite sell-side forecasts of -$0.29 for the current year.
• An insider (Director Donald R. Hayward) sold 3,595 shares in February, insiders own 17.8% and institutional investors own about 88.7% of the stock, reflecting concentrated ownership and recent insider selling.

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,337,054 shares, an increase of 26.8% from the March 15th total of 1,054,667 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 132,938 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.1 days. Approximately 11.9% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CLFD. Zacks Research downgraded Clearfield from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Clearfield in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clearfield currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Clearfield Stock Performance

NASDAQ CLFD traded up $0.33 on Thursday, reaching $28.15. The stock had a trading volume of 17,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 128,123. Clearfield has a 12-month low of $23.76 and a 12-month high of $46.76. The business's 50-day moving average price is $29.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.99. The stock has a market cap of $385.37 million, a P/E ratio of -57.66 and a beta of 2.00.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.02. Clearfield had a positive return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 3.93%.The company had revenue of $34.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.77 million. Clearfield has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.480-0.620 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.100--0.020 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Clearfield will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In other news, Director Donald R. Hayward sold 3,595 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total transaction of $115,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $347,840. The trade was a 24.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 17.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearfield

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLFD. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Clearfield by 6.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 269,865 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $8,020,000 after buying an additional 15,659 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Clearfield by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 7,222 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Clearfield by 45.5% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 20,136 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 6,294 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Clearfield by 6.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 20,103 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.73% of the company's stock.

Clearfield Company Profile

Clearfield, Inc NASDAQ: CLFD is a Minneapolis-based company specializing in fiber management products for broadband network deployments. The company's core offerings include fiber distribution hubs, enclosures, splice trays, patching panels and connectivity accessories designed to simplify installation and maintenance of fiber-optic networks. Clearfield's modular FieldSmart™ platform provides a scalable approach for service providers, utilities and enterprise organizations looking to expand or upgrade their fiber infrastructure.

Clearfield serves a diverse customer base that includes cable and internet service providers, telecommunications operators, wireless carriers, utilities and municipalities.

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