Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $19.74 and last traded at $19.1660, with a volume of 557072 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CLBK. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Columbia Financial in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Columbia Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Brean Capital downgraded shares of Columbia Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Columbia Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.50.

Columbia Financial Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.95 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $67.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.10 million. Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 5.15% and a net margin of 10.91%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Financial will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Financial by 2,322.2% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 2,508 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $120,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $153,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $168,000. 12.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.