Franklin Resources Inc. Has $288,000 Holdings in Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,977 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 1,522 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Clearfield were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Clearfield by 2.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 98,088 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $3,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,426 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Clearfield by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 228,173 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,798,000 after purchasing an additional 103,648 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in Clearfield by 12.2% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 249,087 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $9,704,000 after purchasing an additional 27,178 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the 2nd quarter worth about $453,000. Finally, Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,801,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Clearfield Price Performance

Shares of CLFD opened at $31.00 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 9.43, a quick ratio of 6.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.27. Clearfield, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.78 and a 1-year high of $44.83. The company has a market cap of $442.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.47 and a beta of 1.28.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by $0.13. Clearfield had a negative return on equity of 4.41% and a negative net margin of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $46.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Clearfield, Inc. will post -0.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Clearfield

In other news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.00 per share, for a total transaction of $155,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 1,266,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,270,676. This represents a 0.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 16.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLFD has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Clearfield from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Clearfield in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Clearfield has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.75.

Clearfield 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.