Columbia Financial, Inc. (CLBK) Stock Price & How to Invest

Columbia Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBK) is the Fair Lawn, New Jersey holding company for Columbia Bank, a community and commercial bank offering retail and business deposits, residential and commercial lending, and wealth management across northern and central New Jersey. Before the 2026 transactions it carried roughly $11 billion in total assets, making it a mid-size regional thrift-style franchise concentrated in real-estate-heavy lending. Earnings had been pressured through 2024 by a compressed net interest margin, then recovered through 2025 as funding costs stabilized and the margin widened back toward the low 2 percent range.

The investment picture in mid-2026 is defined by two linked corporate actions. Columbia Bank MHC is completing a second-step conversion from mutual-holding-company form to full stock form, selling about 167 million shares at $10.00 each for roughly $1.67 billion in gross proceeds, and simultaneously acquiring Woodbridge-based Northfield Bancorp for about $580 million. The combined bank is expected to hold roughly $18 billion in pro forma assets and rank as the third-largest regional bank headquartered in New Jersey, with a first-time expansion into the New York City boroughs Northfield serves. That makes CLBK a capital-heavy, integration-driven story rather than a simple bet on organic banking growth.

CLBK is a real-estate-concentrated regional lender, so commercial real estate and multifamily credit stress, rising vacancies, or refinancing pressure could drive loan losses. The Northfield integration carries execution risk around systems, staff, deposit retention, and realizing projected cost savings, and merger and conversion charges can weigh on near-term reported earnings. Newly converted thrifts frequently post low returns on equity until excess capital is deployed, which can make the stock screen expensive on book value. Net interest margin remains sensitive to interest rates and deposit competition, and as a New Jersey and New York bank the franchise is tied to regional economic and housing conditions.

3 analysts publish price targets on CLBK, averaging $14.17 against a $11.50 price as of September 2026, or +23.2%. The published targets run from $14.00 to $14.50, a narrow spread, and the ratings split 3 buy, 0 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 1 cut among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full CLBK forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Columbia Financial, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Second-step conversion recapitalization. The conversion of Columbia Bank MHC to full stock form raised roughly $1.67 billion at $10.00 per share, leaving the newly fully-public company with a large capital cushion. The most optimistic published target, $14.50, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. CLBK is a real-estate-concentrated regional lender, so commercial real estate and multifamily credit stress, rising vacancies, or refinancing pressure could drive loan losses. The most pessimistic target, $14.00, is roughly what CLBK is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on CLBK, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Columbia Financial, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Total revenue (FY2025): ~$471M
• Net income (FY2025): ~$52M
• Diluted EPS (FY2025): ~$0.51
• Total assets (pre-merger): ~$11B
• Pro forma assets (post-Northfield): ~$18B
• Second-step conversion raise: ~$1.67B at $10.00/share

FY2025 net income of roughly $52 million marked a turnaround from a trailing net loss in 2024, driven by a recovering net interest margin. The dominant valuation input in mid-2026 is the recapitalization: the second-step conversion raised roughly $1.67 billion and the Northfield merger adds about $580 million of consideration, so per-share book value and share count shift materially versus historical figures. Newly converted thrifts typically trade at a discount to book and show a depressed return on equity until the new capital is put to work.

Other names that sit close to CLBK: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get CLBK exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so CLBK sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where CLBK fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

CLBK is a recapitalized New Jersey regional bank whose story is dominated by its 2026 second-step conversion and Northfield merger rather than by steady-state banking results.

Whether CLBK is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is CLBK a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the CLBK stock forecast.

For income investors, whether CLBK pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does CLBK pay a dividend? And to weigh CLBK against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: CLBK vs NJR and CLBK vs VLY.