Contrasting Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) and u-blox (OTCMKTS:UBLXF)

u-blox (OTCMKTS:UBLXF) and Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk, earnings and valuation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

32.3% of u-blox shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of Clearfield shares are held by institutional investors. 16.0% of Clearfield shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for u-blox and Clearfield, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
u-blox	0	0	0	0	N/A
Clearfield	0	0	4	0	3.00

Clearfield has a consensus price target of $46.75, suggesting a potential upside of 29.43%. Given Clearfield’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Clearfield is more favorable than u-blox.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares u-blox and Clearfield”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
u-blox	N/A	N/A	N/A	$3.99	19.32
Clearfield	$169.62 million	3.03	$32.53 million	($0.25)	-144.48

Clearfield has higher revenue and earnings than u-blox. Clearfield is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than u-blox, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares u-blox and Clearfield’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
u-blox	N/A	N/A	N/A
Clearfield	-5.26%	-3.06%	-2.70%

About u-blox

u-blox Holding AG develops, manufactures, and markets products and services supporting GPS/GNSS satellite positioning systems for the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the United States, and the Asia Pacific. It operates through two segments, Positioning and Wireless Products, and Wireless Services. The company develops and sells chips and modules to locate and connect devices. In addition, it offers a range of GPS/GNSS positioning products, including satellite receiver chips, chips, receiver modules, receiver boards, antennas, and smart antennas for navigation, automatic vehicle location, security, traffic control, location-based services, timing, and agriculture. u-blox Holding AG was founded in 1997 and is based in Thalwil, Switzerland.

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. It also provides CraftSmart FiberFirst pedestals, an access terminal that offers a cable management and mounting bracket kit to support the deployment of access terminals; YOURx, an access terminal that provides flexibility with cable mid-span and internal splicing options; and FieldShield, a fiber pathway and protection method for reducing the cost of broadband deployment. In addition, the company offers fiber assemblies; fiber optic and copper cables, microducts, microduct accessories, and tools; and installation and connection accessories for fiber optic networks. It serves community broadband customers, multiple system operators, large regional service providers, and wireline/wireless national telco carriers. The company was formerly known as APA Enterprises, Inc. and changed its name to Clearfield, Inc. in January 2008. Clearfield, Inc. was incorpoarted in 1979 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.