Columbia Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLBK) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Columbia Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLBK) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,300,000 shares, a decline of 7.3% from the May 31st total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 83,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 27.7 days. Currently, 8.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Columbia Financial from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st.

Columbia Financial Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CLBK traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.83. 95,204 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 81,962. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Columbia Financial has a twelve month low of $13.79 and a twelve month high of $20.46. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 92.69 and a beta of 0.18.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by ($0.04). Columbia Financial had a return on equity of 3.06% and a net margin of 3.70%. The company had revenue of $49.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.40 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Columbia Financial will post 0.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Columbia Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CLBK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Columbia Financial by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,683,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,452,000 after buying an additional 56,155 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Columbia Financial by 101.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,216 shares during the last quarter. 12.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Columbia Financial

Columbia Financial, Inc, a bank holding company, provides various financial services to businesses and consumers in the United States. Its deposit products include checking, interest-earning checking products and municipal, savings and club deposits, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.