Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Stock Rating Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Capital One Financial set a $14.00 price target on Columbia Financial in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on Columbia Financial in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $14.50 price objective on the stock. Brean Capital raised Columbia Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Columbia Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, New Street Research set a $14.00 target price on Columbia Financial in a report on Monday, August 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.10.

Columbia Financial Stock Down 0.1%

CLBK opened at $10.85 on Friday. Columbia Financial has a 12 month low of $6.56 and a 12 month high of $12.00. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.31 and a 200 day moving average of $15.75.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $73.75 million for the quarter. Columbia Financial had a net margin of 11.19% and a return on equity of 5.25%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Columbia Financial will post 0.59 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Columbia Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLBK. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,902,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 2.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,040,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,734,000 after purchasing an additional 51,677 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 72,334 shares in the last quarter. PEAK6 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the second quarter worth $2,693,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the second quarter worth $2,338,000. 12.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc is the holding company for Columbia Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Columbia Bank provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses and organizations through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

The bank’s products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, home equity loans, consumer loans and commercial real estate and business lending.