Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) Stock Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) shares passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $11.15 and traded as high as $11.45. Columbia Financial shares last traded at $11.35, with a volume of 4,507,708 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on CLBK shares. Brean Capital raised Columbia Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on Columbia Financial in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $14.50 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised Columbia Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $19.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Capital One Financial set a $14.00 price objective on shares of Columbia Financial in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Columbia Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.10.

Columbia Financial Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.15 by $0.01. Columbia Financial had a net margin of 8.54% and a return on equity of 7.35%. The business had revenue of $100.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $129.93 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Columbia Financial will post 0.56 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 10th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Columbia Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CLBK. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Columbia Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $51,902,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Columbia Financial by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,040,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,734,000 after buying an additional 51,677 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Columbia Financial by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 676,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,838,000 after buying an additional 72,334 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Close LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,412,000. Finally, PEAK6 LLC purchased a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,693,000. 12.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc is the holding company for Columbia Bank, a community bank headquartered in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The bank serves individuals, businesses and organizations, primarily in northern and central New Jersey.

Columbia Bank offers deposit accounts and lending services, including residential mortgages, home equity loans, commercial real estate financing and other business loans. It also provides digital and traditional banking services for personal and business customers.

The bank traces its history to the Columbia Building and Loan Association, established in 1926.