Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Shares Up 2.3% – Here’s Why

Shares of Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $15.60 and last traded at $15.57. Approximately 107,097 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 96,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Columbia Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Columbia Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $17.00.

Columbia Financial Stock Up 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.80 and a beta of 0.23.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. Columbia Financial had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 4.36%. The firm had revenue of $67.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.20 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Columbia Financial will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLBK. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Columbia Financial by 2,322.2% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial during the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $120,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $141,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $153,000. 12.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc is the bank holding company for Columbia Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Through its principal subsidiary, Columbia Bank, the company offers a comprehensive suite of retail and commercial banking products and services. These offerings include deposit accounts, consumer and mortgage lending, commercial real estate financing, and business banking solutions tailored to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

On the consumer side, Columbia Bank provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, home equity lines of credit, and residential mortgage loans.