Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $9.35 and last traded at $9.3450, with a volume of 72411 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on KRNY. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Kearny Financial from $9.50 to $10.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research raised Kearny Financial to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Kearny Financial from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kearny Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.50.

Kearny Financial Trading Up 1.0%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.93. The company has a market capitalization of $606.29 million, a PE ratio of 16.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15. Kearny Financial had a net margin of 10.39% and a return on equity of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $44.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.67 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kearny Financial will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kearny Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 6th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 6th. Kearny Financial’s payout ratio is presently 77.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza purchased 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.57 per share, with a total value of $29,995.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 33,910 shares in the company, valued at $290,608.70. The trade was a 11.51% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Curtland E. Fields purchased 3,600 shares of Kearny Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.41 per share, with a total value of $30,276.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,312. This represents a 9.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders bought 24,800 shares of company stock worth $211,196. Insiders own 7.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kearny Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Kearny Financial by 488.8% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,612,987 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,062 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Kearny Financial by 373.7% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 918,125 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,931,000 after acquiring an additional 724,297 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kearny Financial by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,023,294 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,993,000 after purchasing an additional 539,811 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kearny Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,583,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kearny Financial by 402.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 214,681 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,410,000 after buying an additional 171,916 shares in the last quarter. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kearny Financial Company Profile

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.