Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW)

Clearwater Paper Corporation (NYSE:CLW) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 2,280 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 559% compared to the average daily volume of 346 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearwater Paper

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLW. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Clearwater Paper by 4.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in Clearwater Paper during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 115,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,926,000 after acquiring an additional 3,368 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 93.3% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 45,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 21,803 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Clearwater Paper in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.98% of the company’s stock.

Clearwater Paper Trading Up 24.8%

Clearwater Paper stock traded up $4.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 597,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,423. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Clearwater Paper has a 12 month low of $11.73 and a 12 month high of $28.51. The stock has a market cap of $352.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.19 and a beta of 0.27.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported ($1.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $374.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.80 million. Clearwater Paper had a negative net margin of 1.63% and a negative return on equity of 3.94%. As a group, analysts forecast that Clearwater Paper will post -3.41 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Clearwater Paper from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Clearwater Paper from $12.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. TD Cowen lowered Clearwater Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Clearwater Paper in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Clearwater Paper to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.17.

About Clearwater Paper

Clearwater Paper Corporation is an independent manufacturer of premium tissue and pulp and paperboard products for private-label and commercial customers in North America. The company operates through two core segments: Consumer Products, which produces bathroom tissue, paper towels and other away-from-home tissue products under private-label contracts; and Pulp & Paperboard, which supplies bleached paperboard used in folding cartons, foodservice packaging and specialty paper applications.

The Consumer Products segment services retail grocers, warehouse clubs, online merchants and janitorial distributors, leveraging multiple converting facilities to produce roll and folded tissue items for both household and institutional use.