Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $9.35 and last traded at $9.3450, with a volume of 72411 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on KRNY. Zacks Research raised Kearny Financial to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Kearny Financial from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Kearny Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.50.

Kearny Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $606.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.93.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15. The business had revenue of $44.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.67 million. Kearny Financial had a return on equity of 4.61% and a net margin of 10.39%. On average, analysts expect that Kearny Financial will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kearny Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Kearny Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kearny Financial

In related news, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza acquired 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $29,995.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 33,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $290,608.70. The trade was a 11.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Curtland E. Fields bought 3,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.41 per share, with a total value of $30,276.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 43,200 shares in the company, valued at $363,312. The trade was a 9.09% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders bought 24,800 shares of company stock worth $211,196 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kearny Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Kearny Financial during the fourth quarter worth $1,145,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kearny Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,583,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kearny Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $711,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Kearny Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $188,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in Kearny Financial by 468,780.0% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 23,444 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 23,439 shares during the period. 71.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial, Inc was the bank holding company for Kearny Bank, a New Jersey–based community bank offering a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Through its subsidiary, the company provided deposit products, lending facilities and electronic banking solutions to individuals, small businesses and middle-market corporations.

The company’s core products included checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, construction financing, equipment financing, home equity lines of credit and consumer installment loans.