Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Clearfield has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, with a target price set at $45.00 by Northland Securities.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.11, surpassing estimates of $0.05, while revenue reached $49.90 million against an expectation of $47.58 million.
• Institutional ownership is significant, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 88.73% of Clearfield's stock, reflecting strong interest in the company.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

CLFD has been the subject of several other reports. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Clearfield in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Northland Capmk downgraded shares of Clearfield from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Northland Securities downgraded shares of Clearfield from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $45.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.50.

Clearfield Price Performance

Shares of CLFD traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.17. The company had a trading volume of 34,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,266. Clearfield has a twelve month low of $23.78 and a twelve month high of $46.76. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.31 and its 200-day moving average is $35.24. The company has a market capitalization of $471.82 million, a P/E ratio of 3,400.00 and a beta of 1.63.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. Clearfield had a return on equity of 0.07% and a net margin of 0.11%. The business had revenue of $49.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $47.58 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Clearfield will post -0.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearfield

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CLFD. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Clearfield by 770.2% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 176,304 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,240,000 after acquiring an additional 156,044 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Clearfield in the fourth quarter worth about $1,594,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Clearfield by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 322,378 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $9,994,000 after acquiring an additional 48,730 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,311,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,016,000. 88.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.