Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Clearwater Paper from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. TheStreet cut Clearwater Paper from a b rating to a c rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th.

Clearwater Paper Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:CLW opened at $32.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $36.65 and a 200 day moving average of $38.34. The company has a market cap of $544.03 million, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.83. Clearwater Paper has a 12-month low of $25.07 and a 12-month high of $46.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $526.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $518.00 million. Clearwater Paper had a return on equity of 11.26% and a net margin of 2.21%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Clearwater Paper news, VP Michael S. Gadd sold 8,685 shares of Clearwater Paper stock in a transaction on Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.63, for a total value of $326,816.55. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 52,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,968,538.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Michael John Murphy sold 5,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.33, for a total transaction of $193,221.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,355 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,313,407.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael S. Gadd sold 8,685 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.63, for a total value of $326,816.55. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 52,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,968,538.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 16,690 shares of company stock worth $633,678. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Clearwater Paper

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,717,282 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,165,000 after buying an additional 6,953 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Clearwater Paper by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,262,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,719,000 after acquiring an additional 51,895 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Clearwater Paper by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,189,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,351,000 after acquiring an additional 20,592 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Clearwater Paper by 1.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 598,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,138,000 after purchasing an additional 6,962 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Clearwater Paper by 86.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 398,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,410,000 after purchasing an additional 184,832 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.77% of the company’s stock.

Clearwater Paper Company Profile

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Clearwater Paper Corp. engages in the manufacturing and selling of private label tissue, paperboard, and pulp-based products. It operates through the Consumer Products and Pulp and Paperboard segments. The Consumer Products segment manufactures and sells a complete line of at-home tissue products. The Pulp and Paperboard segment produces and markets solid bleached sulfate paperboard for the high-end segment of the packaging industry and offers custom sheeting, slitting, and cutting of paperboard.