Piper Sandler assumed coverage of Columbia Financial (CLBK) with a Neutral rating and $18 price target. The firm's Neutral thesis is based on below-peer profitability metrics both on a pre-Northfield Bancorp (NFBK) acquisition and post-closing expected basis, while currently trading at 1.7-times TBV. However, the thesis is favorably balanced by the Northfield Bancorp acquisition which makes strategic sense with regard to stronger control of overlapping and adjacent geographic markets, allowing for improving profitability levels and further growth prospects as synergies run its course, Piper adds.
