Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Columbia Financial in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Columbia Financial Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:CLBK opened at $23.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.58 and a beta of 0.25. Columbia Financial has a 12-month low of $13.66 and a 12-month high of $24.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The company reported $0.15 EPS 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 company had revenue of $67.14 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.10 million. Analysts predict that Columbia Financial will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLBK. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Columbia Financial by 2,322.2% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,508 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the third quarter valued at about $120,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $168,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. 12.72% of the stock is owned by 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.