Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Clearwater Paper Co. (NYSE:CLW)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Clearwater Paper Co. (NYSE:CLW – Get Rating) by 80.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Clearwater Paper were worth $33,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CLW. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 184,832 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Clearwater Paper in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,416,000. Pictet Asset Management SA raised its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 374,197 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,069,000 after acquiring an additional 71,589 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Clearwater Paper by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,210,160 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $45,501,000 after buying an additional 41,501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in shares of Clearwater Paper during the 1st quarter valued at about $943,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CLW. StockNews.com cut Clearwater Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. TheStreet cut Clearwater Paper from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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.

Clearwater Paper Price Performance

Shares of CLW stock opened at $36.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $618.11 million, a P/E ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.83. Clearwater Paper Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.07 and a fifty-two week high of $46.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Clearwater Paper had a return on equity of 11.26% and a net margin of 2.21%. The business had revenue of $526.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $518.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Steve M. Bowden sold 2,964 shares of Clearwater Paper stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total value of $113,639.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,979,724.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Clearwater Paper news, SVP Steve M. Bowden sold 2,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total transaction of $113,639.76. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 51,636 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,979,724.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael S. Gadd sold 8,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,968,538.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,690 shares of company stock valued at $633,678 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.77% 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.