Skylands Capital LLC Buys Shares of 17,882 Clearfield, Inc. $CLFD

Skylands Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 17,882 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CLFD. G2 Investment Partners Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Clearfield in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,022,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Clearfield in the second quarter valued at about $2,307,000. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Clearfield during the second quarter valued at about $2,096,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Clearfield by 376.4% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 40,388 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,753,000 after purchasing an additional 31,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Clearfield in the third quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Institutional investors own 88.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLFD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Clearfield from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Lake Street Capital cut their price target on shares of Clearfield from $52.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Clearfield from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Clearfield from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Clearfield in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clearfield news, Chairman Ronald G. Roth purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.06 per share, for a total transaction of $300,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman owned 1,279,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,454,675.84. This represents a 0.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 17.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Clearfield Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CLFD opened at $31.40 on Wednesday. Clearfield, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.78 and a 52 week high of $46.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $30.22 and its 200-day moving average is $32.72. The firm has a market cap of $434.89 million, a P/E ratio of -64.08 and a beta of 1.94.

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The communications equipment provider reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.02. Clearfield had a negative net margin of 3.93% and a positive return on equity of 1.72%. The business had revenue of $34.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.77 million. Clearfield has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.480-0.620 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at -0.100–0.020 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Clearfield, Inc. will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Clearfield declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 25th that authorizes the company to buyback $85.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the communications equipment provider to purchase up to 22% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Clearfield

Clearfield, Inc (NASDAQ: CLFD) is a Minneapolis-based company specializing in fiber management products for broadband network deployments. The company’s core offerings include fiber distribution hubs, enclosures, splice trays, patching panels and connectivity accessories designed to simplify installation and maintenance of fiber-optic networks. Clearfield’s modular FieldSmart™ platform provides a scalable approach for service providers, utilities and enterprise organizations looking to expand or upgrade their fiber infrastructure.

Clearfield serves a diverse customer base that includes cable and internet service providers, telecommunications operators, wireless carriers, utilities and municipalities.