Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) Short Interest Down 5.2% in March

Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 995,400 shares, a decline of 5.2% from the March 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 449,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Kearny Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

KRNY opened at $5.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.00 million, a P/E ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.71. Kearny Financial has a 12 month low of $5.44 and a 12 month high of $9.46.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The savings and loans company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $19.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.60 million. Kearny Financial had a net margin of 5.84% and a return on equity of 4.44%.

Kearny Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 7th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 6th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. Kearny Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 151.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kearny Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza acquired 3,945 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.47 per share, with a total value of $25,524.15. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,595 shares in the company, valued at $42,669.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Kearny Financial news, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza bought 3,945 shares of Kearny Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.47 per share, with a total value of $25,524.15. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 6,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,669.65. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Christopher Petermann bought 10,000 shares of Kearny Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $6.14 per share, with a total value of $61,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 56,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,693.46. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 15,945 shares of company stock worth $98,664 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kearny Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KRNY. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kearny Financial by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,080 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 7,581 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Kearny Financial during the third quarter worth about $123,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kearny Financial by 6.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 863,080 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,981,000 after acquiring an additional 52,965 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kearny Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 392,869 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Kearny Financial by 2.3% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 80,700 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts.