Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) Short Interest Down 19.8% in December

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 568,114 shares, a decrease of 19.8% from the December 15th total of 708,511 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 441,003 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 441,003 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KRNY. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Kearny Financial from $7.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kearny Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.00.

Kearny Financial Price Performance

Shares of KRNY stock traded down $0.05 on Monday, reaching $7.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 445,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,696. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.75. Kearny Financial has a 1 year low of $5.45 and a 1 year high of $7.98. The company has a market capitalization of $508.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.15. Kearny Financial had a net margin of 8.57% and a return on equity of 3.89%. The business had revenue of $42.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.43 million.

Kearny Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 5th. Kearny Financial’s payout ratio is presently 93.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kearny Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KRNY. Fourthstone LLC raised its holdings in Kearny Financial by 351.4% during the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 1,109,666 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,168,000 after buying an additional 863,816 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased 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 during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kearny Financial in the third quarter valued at $1,583,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kearny Financial by 402.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 214,681 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 171,916 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kearny Financial by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,348,893 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $22,002,000 after acquiring an additional 133,683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.