Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Upgraded to Moderate Buy at Raymond James Financial

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) was upgraded by Raymond James Financial to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Kearny Financial from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings raised Kearny Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.75.

Kearny Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Kearny Financial stock opened at $10.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $649.94 million, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.47. Kearny Financial has a fifty-two week low of $6.22 and a fifty-two week high of $10.04.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $45.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.61 million. Kearny Financial had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 10.45%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kearny Financial will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Curtland E. Fields acquired 14,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.41 per share, for a total transaction of $138,327.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 57,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $544,839. This trade represents a 34.03% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leopold W. Montanaro bought 4,773 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.46 per share, for a total transaction of $45,152.58. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 270,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,554,200. This trade represents a 1.80% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 44,273 shares of company stock valued at $394,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 7.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kearny Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kearny Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $84,461,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kearny Financial by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,348,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $22,002,000 after acquiring an additional 133,683 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kearny Financial by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,294 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,993,000 after purchasing an additional 539,811 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Kearny Financial by 488.8% during the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,612,987 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,062 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Kearny Financial by 6.0% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,437,222 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 81,050 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kearny Financial Company Profile

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.