Piper Sandler Begins Coverage on Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK)

Equities research analysts at Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) in a report issued on Monday. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 2.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CLBK. Brean Capital cut shares of Columbia Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $19.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Columbia Financial from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.50.

Columbia Financial Stock Performance

CLBK stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Monday, hitting $17.62. 35,824 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 240,521. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55 and a beta of 0.20. Columbia Financial has a 52 week low of $12.64 and a 52 week high of $18.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15. The company had revenue of $68.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.20 million. Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 10.19%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Columbia Financial will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Columbia Financial by 2,322.2% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $63,000. Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $120,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Columbia Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $168,000. 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.