Clearwater Paper Corporation (NYSE:CLW) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Clearwater Paper has a consensus “Hold” rating from eight analysts, with six holds, one sell, and one buy. The average 12-month price target is $19.50, below the stock’s reported $20.95 opening price.
• Institutional investors own approximately 89.98% of the company, with BlackRock initiating a $19.8 million position and several other funds substantially increasing their stakes.
• Clearwater Paper reported a quarterly loss of $1.75 per share, missing the consensus estimate of a $1.49 loss, while revenue matched expectations at $374.8 million. Analysts expect a full-year loss of approximately $2.33 per share.

Shares of Clearwater Paper Corporation (NYSE:CLW - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.50.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CLW shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Clearwater Paper from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Bank of America raised their target price on Clearwater Paper from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Clearwater Paper in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Clearwater Paper in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Clearwater Paper from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, June 28th.

Institutional Trading of Clearwater Paper

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Clearwater Paper in the second quarter valued at $19,788,000. Readystate Asset Management LP lifted its position in shares of Clearwater Paper by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 781,384 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,236,000 after purchasing an additional 19,246 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Clearwater Paper by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 320,212 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,572,000 after purchasing an additional 169,880 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Clearwater Paper by 107.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 237,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,410,000 after purchasing an additional 122,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Clearwater Paper during the second quarter valued at about $2,986,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company's stock.

Clearwater Paper Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE CLW opened at $20.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Clearwater Paper has a 52 week low of $11.73 and a 52 week high of $23.59. The firm's fifty day moving average is $20.01 and its 200 day moving average is $16.70. The company has a market cap of $337.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.89 and a beta of 0.22.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported ($1.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $374.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $374.80 million. Clearwater Paper had a negative net margin of 3.24% and a negative return on equity of 7.95%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Clearwater Paper will post -2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

About Clearwater Paper

Clearwater Paper Corporation is a manufacturer of bleached paperboard products used in packaging and other commercial applications. Its products include folding carton board, cup stock, liquid packaging board, and other paperboard grades designed for food, beverage, consumer, and industrial packaging.

The company serves customers primarily in North America through a network of manufacturing facilities and converting operations. Clearwater Paper's paperboard products are used to make cartons, containers, cups, and related packaging for consumer and commercial goods.

Clearwater Paper was established in 2008 when it was spun off from Potlatch Corporation.

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