Contrasting Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD)

Clearfield (NASDAQ:CLFD) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) are both technology companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Clearfield has a beta of 2.06, meaning that its stock price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nokia has a beta of 1.24, meaning that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Clearfield and Nokia”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Clearfield	$151.94 million	2.71	-$8.05 million	($0.51)	-59.44
Nokia	$20.85 billion	2.30	$736.54 million	$0.16	52.28

Nokia has higher revenue and earnings than Clearfield. Clearfield is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nokia, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Clearfield and Nokia, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Clearfield	1	1	5	0	2.57
Nokia	2	5	16	0	2.61

Clearfield currently has a consensus price target of $41.75, indicating a potential upside of 37.72%. Nokia has a consensus price target of $13.41, indicating a potential upside of 60.28%. Given Nokia’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Nokia is more favorable than Clearfield.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.7% of Clearfield shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.3% of Nokia shares are held by institutional investors. 17.8% of Clearfield shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Clearfield and Nokia’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Clearfield	1.17%	0.86%	0.80%
Nokia	3.80%	10.48%	5.94%

Summary

Nokia beats Clearfield on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Clearfield

Clearfield, Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes fiber-optic management and connectivity products used to build and maintain broadband networks. Its solutions help service providers organize, protect and connect fiber from central offices and network hubs to homes and businesses. The company’s offerings include fiber distribution cabinets, enclosures, panels, wall boxes and related connectivity components. Its product lines include FieldSmart, YOURx and StreetSmart, which are designed for applications such as fiber-to-the-home deployments and other access-network environments.

About Nokia

Nokia is a Finland-based technology company focused on communications networks and related services. Its offerings include mobile and fixed network infrastructure, IP and optical networking, cloud and network software, and private wireless solutions for businesses and public-sector organizations. The company serves communications service providers, enterprises, governments and other customers around the world. It also develops and licenses technology and intellectual property, including through its patent-licensing business.