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

Columbia Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLBK) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the January 15th total of 2,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 94,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 21.6 days. Approximately 7.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Columbia Financial news, Director Noel R. Holland sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.06, for a total transaction of $170,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,501 shares in the company, valued at $520,347.06. This trade represents a 24.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. bought a new stake in Columbia Financial in the third quarter valued at $33,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in Columbia Financial by 214.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,604 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Columbia Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in shares of Columbia Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $168,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

Columbia Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of CLBK traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $15.93. The company had a trading volume of 95,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 105,347. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -132.75 and a beta of 0.21. Columbia Financial has a 52 week low of $13.79 and a 52 week high of $19.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $15.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Columbia Financial (NASDAQ:CLBK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Columbia Financial had a negative net margin of 2.39% and a positive return on equity of 2.20%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Columbia Financial will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Columbia Financial Company Profile

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.