Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.80 and last traded at $19.7540, with a volume of 16810 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.57.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CLBK. Weiss Ratings upgraded Columbia Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Brean Capital lowered Columbia Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Columbia Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Columbia Financial in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Columbia Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Columbia Financial Trading Up 1.1%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.04. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.96 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.01). Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 5.12% and a net margin of 10.91%.The firm had revenue of $67.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.10 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Columbia Financial will post 0.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Columbia Financial by 2,322.2% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Columbia Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $120,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $153,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Columbia Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $168,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Financial Company Profile

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.