Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a decline of 6.6% from the June 30th total of 1,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 154,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.9 days. Currently, 14.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $36.40 per share, with a total value of $72,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 1,261,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,929,374.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 16.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Clearfield

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smith Graham & Co. Investment Advisors LP acquired a new position in Clearfield during the 4th quarter worth $5,148,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Clearfield by 172.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 113,904 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,531,000 after buying an additional 72,164 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of Clearfield by 1,247.7% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 210,717 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $6,128,000 after buying an additional 195,082 shares during the period. Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Clearfield in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,310,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Clearfield by 122.2% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 830,783 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $23,784,000 after buying an additional 456,879 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on CLFD shares. StockNews.com upgraded Clearfield to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Clearfield in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Northland Securities raised Clearfield from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have given 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 $43.50.

Clearfield Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Clearfield stock traded up $1.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.40. 168,077 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 180,606. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $38.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.22. Clearfield has a fifty-two week low of $22.91 and a fifty-two week high of $47.00.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $36.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.25 million. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 1.79% and a negative return on equity of 1.08%. The business’s revenue was down 43.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Clearfield will post -1.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.