Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 23.5% in March to 1,103,230 shares (about 1.8% of shares), yielding a short-interest ratio of 2.9 days based on average daily volume.
• The company pays a quarterly dividend that annualizes to $0.44 for a 5.6% yield, but the payout ratio is elevated at 84.62%.
• Kearny missed the latest quarter (EPS $0.15 vs. $0.16 expected; revenue $43.54M vs. $44.84M), trades around $7.92 with a $512.7M market cap, and carries an average analyst rating of "Hold" with an $8.00 target.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,103,230 shares, a growth of 23.5% from the March 15th total of 893,005 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 385,369 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company's shares are short sold.

Kearny Financial Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:KRNY traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $7.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 270,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,178. The company has a market capitalization of $512.73 million, a P/E ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.66. Kearny Financial has a 12 month low of $5.76 and a 12 month high of $8.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $7.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.34.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.01). Kearny Financial had a return on equity of 4.26% and a net margin of 9.41%.The business had revenue of $43.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.84 million.

Kearny Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 4th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 4th. Kearny Financial's payout ratio is currently 84.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kearny Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.00.

Insider Activity at Kearny Financial

In other Kearny Financial news, EVP Timothy A. Swansson sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.60, for a total transaction of $30,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,833 shares in the company, valued at $424,330.80. The trade was a 6.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick M. Joyce sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.65, for a total value of $30,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 54,365 shares of the company's stock, valued at $415,892.25. This trade represents a 6.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 7.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kearny Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Kearny Financial by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 25,792 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,144 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Kearny Financial by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 38,996 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 10,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Kearny Financial by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 237,469 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 13,678 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Kearny Financial in the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Kearny Financial in the fourth quarter worth $76,000. 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.

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