Short Interest in Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Increases By 78.2%

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,920,176 shares, an increase of 78.2% from the June 15th total of 1,077,701 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 939,622 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kearny Financial

In other news, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza bought 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $29,995.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 33,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $290,608.70. This represents a 11.51% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Curtland E. Fields bought 3,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.41 per share, for a total transaction of $30,276.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 43,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $363,312. This trade represents a 9.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 24,800 shares of company stock valued at $211,196. Insiders own 7.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kearny Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kearny Financial by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,753 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kearny Financial by 11,688.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 4,126 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,091 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Kearny Financial by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 6,118 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kearny Financial by 119.5% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,248 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 3,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Kearny Financial by 59.4% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 8,585 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KRNY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Kearny Financial from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Kearny Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Kearny Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kearny Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.50.

Kearny Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KRNY opened at $9.69 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $8.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.08. The company has a market cap of $627.33 million, a P/E ratio of 17.00 and a beta of 0.64. Kearny Financial has a 12-month low of $5.76 and a 12-month high of $9.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Kearny Financial had a return on equity of 4.61% and a net margin of 10.39%.The business had revenue of $44.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.67 million. Equities analysts expect that Kearny Financial will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kearny Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 6th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Kearny Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.19%.

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.