Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

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

Columbia Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLBK opened at $24.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.55 and a beta of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.63 and its 200 day moving average is $18.62. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $13.66 and a fifty-two week high of $25.83.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $67.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.10 million. Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 5.12% and a net margin of 10.91%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 made changes to their positions in CLBK. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Columbia Financial by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 7.9% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 12,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 939 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Columbia Financial by 2.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 40,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $594,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 8.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

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.