Columbia Financial (CLBK) Company Overview

The headline numbers for Columbia Financial (CLBK) give insight into how the company performed in the quarter ended December 2024, but it may be worthwhile to compare some of its key metrics to Wall Street estimates and the year-ago actuals.

Columbia Financial (CLBK) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.11 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.08 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.09 per share a year ago.

FAIR LAWN, N.J., Jan. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CLBK), the mid-tier holding company for Columbia Bank ("Columbia"), reported a net loss of $21.2 million, or $0.21 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2024, as compared to net income of $6.6 million, or $0.06 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2024 reflected lower non-interest income mainly due to the previously disclosed balance sheet repositioning transaction. As part of the Company's strategy to improve future earnings and expand its net interest margin, the Company sold $352.3 million of debt securities available for sale during the fourth quarter of 2024, and the proceeds from the sale were used to fund loan growth of $72.9 million, purchase $78.1 million of higher yielding debt securities and prepay $170.0 million of higher cost borrowings. This balance sheet repositioning transaction resulted in a pre-tax loss on the sale of securities and extinguishment of debt of $37.9 million. The quarter ended December 31, 2024 results also reflected a higher provision for credit losses, partially offset by higher net interest income, mainly due to an increase in interest income, lower non-interest expense and lower income tax expense. For the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Company reported core net income of $11.4 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 12.4%, compared to core net income of $10.1 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The benefit of the balance sheet repositioning transaction was modest during the fourth quarter, as the settlement of the transaction occurred late in the quarter. (Refer to "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Financial Measures" for a reconciliation of GAAP net income to core net income.)

Columbia Financial (CLBK) is technically in oversold territory now, so the heavy selling pressure might have exhausted. This along with strong agreement among Wall Street analysts in raising earnings estimates could lead to a trend reversal for the stock.

Columbia Financial (CLBK) might move higher on growing optimism about its earnings prospects, which is reflected by its upgrade to a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

FAIR LAWN, N.J., Dec. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CLBK) the holding company for Columbia Bank (the “Bank”) announced a repositioning of the Company's balance sheet.

Columbia Financial (CLBK) shares have started gaining and might continue moving higher in the near term, as indicated by solid earnings estimate revisions.

FAIR LAWN, N.J., Oct. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CLBK), the mid-tier holding company for Columbia Bank ("Columbia"), reported net income of $6.2 million, or $0.06 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, as compared to $9.1 million, or $0.09 per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. The income for the quarter ended September 30, 2024 reflected lower net interest income, mainly due to an increase in interest expense, and higher provision for credit losses, partially offset by higher non-interest income and lower income tax expense.

FAIR LAWN, N.J., Oct. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBK) (the “Company”), the mid-tier holding company for Columbia Bank, announced today the completion of the merger of Freehold Bank with and into Columbia Bank, effective as of October 5, 2024. Prior to the bank merger, Freehold Bank and Columbia Bank were held and operated as separate subsidiaries of the Company.