Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Reduces Holdings in Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,202 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 841 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Clearfield were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Clearfield by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,297 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 1,656 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Clearfield by 164.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 87,971 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,428,000 after purchasing an additional 54,670 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Clearfield by 2.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 30,062 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the third quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the third quarter worth $80,000. 88.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Clearfield

In related news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.00 per share, for a total transaction of $155,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,270,676. This trade represents a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO John P. Hill sold 16,539 shares of Clearfield stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.26, for a total value of $550,087.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 189,886 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,608.36. This trade represents a 8.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Clearfield Stock Performance

CLFD stock opened at $33.30 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 9.43 and a quick ratio of 6.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.44. The company has a market capitalization of $470.53 million, a P/E ratio of -52.86 and a beta of 1.28. Clearfield, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.06 and a 1-year high of $44.83.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 3.29% and a negative net margin of 5.41%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Clearfield, Inc. will post -0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CLFD. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Clearfield in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Clearfield from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Clearfield presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Clearfield Company Profile

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.