Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 122,815 Shares of Clearwater Paper Corporation $CLW

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Clearwater Paper Corporation (NYSE:CLW) by 107.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 237,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 122,815 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Clearwater Paper were worth $3,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CLW. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its position in Clearwater Paper by 113.0% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 320,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,572,000 after buying an additional 169,880 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in Clearwater Paper in the 1st quarter valued at about $401,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in Clearwater Paper in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Clearwater Paper by 608.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 5,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Clearwater Paper by 34.7% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,185 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on CLW shares. TD cut shares of Clearwater Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen cut shares of Clearwater Paper from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Clearwater Paper in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Clearwater Paper to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Clearwater Paper in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.50.

Clearwater Paper Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:CLW opened at $23.30 on Friday. Clearwater Paper Corporation has a one year low of $11.73 and a one year high of $23.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.23 and a 200-day moving average of $15.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.29 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $375.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.66 and a beta of 0.24.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported ($1.75) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by ($0.26). Clearwater Paper had a negative net margin of 3.24% and a negative return on equity of 7.95%. The business had revenue of $374.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.80 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Clearwater Paper Corporation will post -2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

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.