Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $9.35 and last traded at $9.3450, with a volume of 72411 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KRNY. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kearny Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Kearny Financial from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kearny Financial to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Kearny Financial Stock Up 0.8%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $617.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 0.64.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. The business had revenue of $44.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.67 million. Kearny Financial had a net margin of 10.39% and a return on equity of 4.61%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kearny Financial will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kearny Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Kearny Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 77.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Curtland E. Fields acquired 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.41 per share, for a total transaction of $30,276.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 43,200 shares in the company, valued at $363,312. This represents a 9.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza bought 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.57 per share, for a total transaction of $29,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $290,608.70. This trade represents a 11.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 24,800 shares of company stock worth $211,196 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.44% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kearny Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Kearny Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,145,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Kearny Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,583,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new position in Kearny Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $711,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Kearny Financial by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 11,930 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kearny Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

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.