Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Raised to Buy at Brean Capital

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) was upgraded by equities researchers at Brean Capital from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

CLBK has been the topic of several other reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Columbia Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Columbia Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on Columbia Financial in a research report on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.50 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.83.

Columbia Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLBK traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $11.93. 2,223,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,119,433. Columbia Financial has a 1-year low of $6.21 and a 1-year high of $12.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.23 and its 200-day moving average is $17.99.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $73.75 million for the quarter. Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 11.19%. Equities analysts forecast that Columbia Financial will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Columbia Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLBK. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Columbia Financial by 7.9% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,000 after acquiring an additional 939 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Columbia Financial by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 40,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $594,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Columbia Financial by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. 12.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.