Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) Short Interest Update

Kearny Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:KRNY) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 420,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the December 15th total of 394,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 360,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Kearny Financial Price Performance

Kearny Financial stock opened at $7.23 on Friday. Kearny Financial has a 52-week low of $5.28 and a 52-week high of $8.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.07.

Kearny Financial (NASDAQ:KRNY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.10. Kearny Financial had a negative net margin of 27.43% and a positive return on equity of 3.05%. The company had revenue of $87.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share.

Kearny Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 6th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 6th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. Kearny Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently -30.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kearny Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KRNY. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Kearny Financial by 40.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,495 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 2,445 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Kearny Financial by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,813 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Kearny Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kearny Financial by 53.1% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 9,367 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kearny Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. 71.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KRNY. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Kearny Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kearny Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

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.