Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $9.98 and last traded at $9.9550, with a volume of 629940 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Kearny Financial in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Kearny Financial from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kearny Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.75.

Kearny Financial Stock Up 1.3%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.46. The company has a market cap of $647.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.02). Kearny Financial had a return on equity of 4.90% and a net margin of 10.45%.The business had revenue of $45.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.61 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kearny Financial will post 0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kearny Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Kearny Financial’s payout ratio is presently 77.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kearny Financial news, Director Leopold W. Montanaro purchased 4,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.46 per share, with a total value of $45,152.58. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 270,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,200. This trade represents a 1.80% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Curtland E. Fields purchased 14,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $9.41 per share, for a total transaction of $138,327.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 57,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $544,839. This trade represents a 34.03% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 44,273 shares of company stock worth $394,676. 7.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kearny Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in Kearny Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,145,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Kearny Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,646,000. Odyssean LLC bought a new position in Kearny Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $598,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Kearny Financial by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,437,222 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after purchasing an additional 81,050 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kearny Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $711,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.01% of the company’s stock.

About Kearny Financial

Kearny Financial, Inc was the bank holding company for Kearny Bank, a New Jersey–based community bank offering a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services. Through its subsidiary, the company provided deposit products, lending facilities and electronic banking solutions to individuals, small businesses and middle-market corporations.

The company’s core products included checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, construction financing, equipment financing, home equity lines of credit and consumer installment loans.