Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 675,300 shares, a growth of 35.7% from the March 15th total of 497,800 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 343,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler raised shares of Kearny Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $8.50 in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

Kearny Financial Stock Performance

KRNY opened at $5.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $382.31 million, a PE ratio of -5.24 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.06. Kearny Financial has a 1 year low of $5.28 and a 1 year high of $8.59.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.12 by ($0.02). Kearny Financial had a positive return on equity of 3.31% and a negative net margin of 20.05%.

Kearny Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Kearny Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -38.94%.

Insider Activity at Kearny Financial

In other Kearny Financial news, Director Melvina Wong-Zaza purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.23 per share, with a total value of $36,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,535 shares in the company, valued at $199,078.05. This represents a 22.19 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kearny Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KRNY. Barclays PLC raised its position in Kearny Financial by 26.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 428,421 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,944,000 after purchasing an additional 88,771 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Kearny Financial by 116.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,433 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 68,473 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Kearny Financial by 2.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,506 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 1,576 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Kearny Financial by 161.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 239,689 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 147,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kearny Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $184,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kearny Financial Company Profile

Kearny Financial Corp. operates as the holding company for Kearny Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit accounts.