Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.75 and last traded at $11.7950, with a volume of 2678132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CLBK. Weiss Ratings upgraded Columbia Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised shares of Columbia Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Columbia Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.50.

Columbia Financial Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25 and a beta of 0.23.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $73.75 million during the quarter. Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 11.19%. On average, research analysts expect that Columbia Financial will post 0.33 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CLBK. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Columbia Financial by 2,322.2% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Columbia Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Columbia Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $120,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Columbia Financial in the 4th quarter worth $168,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Columbia Financial by 73.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. 12.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.