Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Columbia Financial shares rose 1.8% to $11.025 amid trading volume that increased 42% to roughly 2.77 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: one analyst rates the stock Buy and two rate it Hold, producing an average Hold rating and a $16.50 price target. Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to Overweight but lowered its target to $14.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.14 on $73.75 million in revenue and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, equivalent to a 1.8% annualized yield.

Shares of Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,768,897 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the previous session's volume of 1,955,002 shares.The stock last traded at $11.0250 and had previously closed at $10.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Columbia Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Columbia Financial from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Columbia Financial in a research report on Friday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $16.50.

Columbia Financial Stock Up 1.8%

The stock has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter. Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 11.19%.The firm had revenue of $73.75 million for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Columbia Financial will post 0.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Columbia Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CLBK. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Columbia Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,902,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Columbia Financial by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,054,755 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,842,000 after acquiring an additional 10,376 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 926,395 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,396,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Columbia Financial by 12.0% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 676,066 shares of the company's stock worth $11,838,000 after acquiring an additional 72,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in Columbia Financial by 52.0% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 184,837 shares of the company's stock worth $2,774,000 after purchasing an additional 63,265 shares during the period. 12.72% of the stock is currently 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.

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