Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Trading 2.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) shares rose 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.60 and last traded at $15.57. Approximately 107,097 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 96,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CLBK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Columbia Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Columbia Financial from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $17.00.

Columbia Financial Stock Up 2.3%

The firm has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.80 and a beta of 0.23. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $15.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $67.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.20 million. Columbia Financial had a net margin of 2.96% and a return on equity of 4.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Columbia Financial will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLBK. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position 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 valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the third quarter valued at about $120,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial during the second quarter worth about $141,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $153,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

About Columbia Financial

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.