Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Shares Up 6.6% – What’s Next?

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) shot up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $25.50 and last traded at $24.9650. 2,738,789 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 634% from the average daily volume of 372,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CLBK shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Columbia Financial in a report on Friday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Columbia Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Columbia Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Columbia Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.08 and a beta of 0.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.01). Columbia Financial had a net margin of 10.91% and a return on equity of 5.12%. The firm had revenue of $67.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.10 million. As a group, analysts expect that Columbia Financial will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 297.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 146,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 109,780 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Columbia Financial by 76.1% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 177,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,571,000 after acquiring an additional 76,560 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Columbia Financial by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 676,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,838,000 after acquiring an additional 72,334 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 61.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 179,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 68,162 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 109.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 126,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 66,238 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

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.