Clearwater Paper Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:CLW)

Clearwater Paper Corporation (NYSE:CLW) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 2,280 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 559% compared to the average volume of 346 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Clearwater Paper

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLW. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Clearwater Paper in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Group One Trading LLC increased its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 184.4% during the 1st quarter. Group One Trading LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 34.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,185 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Clearwater Paper by 608.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 5,656 shares during the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Clearwater Paper Stock Performance

CLW opened at $21.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $16.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.63 million, a P/E ratio of -6.93 and a beta of 0.27. Clearwater Paper has a 12-month low of $11.73 and a 12-month high of $23.83.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported ($1.75) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by ($0.26). Clearwater Paper had a negative return on equity of 7.95% and a negative net margin of 3.24%.The business had revenue of $374.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.80 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Clearwater Paper will post -3.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CLW. Zacks Research raised shares of Clearwater Paper to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Clearwater Paper from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Clearwater Paper in a report on Friday, May 8th. Bank of America started coverage on Clearwater Paper in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Clearwater Paper in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.50.

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.