CLBK vs NJR: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: NJR is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CLBK and NJR share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CLBK and NJR exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

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.

Full CLBK guide

New Jersey Resources is a diversified energy infrastructure company headquartered in Wall, New Jersey. Its core is New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG), a regulated utility that distributes gas to roughly 5.6 million people across Monmouth, Ocean, Morris, Middlesex, Sussex and Burlington counties. Around it sit three non-utility segments: Clean Energy Ventures (solar generation), Energy Services (a wholesale natural gas trading and asset-optimization business active across North America), and Storage and Transportation (the Adelphia Gateway pipeline, the Leaf River salt-dome storage facility, and a 50% stake in Steckman Ridge). Company guidance points to the regulated utility contributing roughly 62 to 67 percent of net financial earnings, with the remainder split among Energy Services, Clean Energy Ventures and Storage and Transportation.

Full NJR guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CLBK drivers: Second-step conversion recapitalization; Northfield Bancorp acquisition and scale.
• NJR drivers: Regulated utility rate-base growth; Energy Services trading upside.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: 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. For NJR, as a regulated utility, NJR depends on favorable rate-case outcomes from New Jersey regulators, and unfavorable rulings can compress returns on its heavy capital spending.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CLBK if you believe its drivers more; NJR if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CLBK and NJR guides.

CLBK. 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.

NJR. NJR trades at a mid-teens multiple of earnings, roughly in line with regulated gas utility peers, reflecting a stable regulated core plus a variable trading component. Management has raised fiscal 2026 net financial earnings guidance twice, largely on strong Energy Services results, so the quality and repeatability of a given year's earnings depends on how much came from the regulated utility versus commodity trading. The roughly 3.3 percent dividend yield and steady dividend growth are central to the total-return story.

Headline figures (approximate, July 2026): CLBK shows total revenue (fy2025) ~$471M, net income (fy2025) ~$52M, diluted eps (fy2025) ~$0.51, total assets (pre-merger) ~$11B; NJR shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.1B, net income (fy2025) ~$336M, eps (ttm) ~$3.35, market cap ~$4.7B.

CLBK and NJR are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CLBK and NJR exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.