OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. StockNews.com upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James lowered their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, May 31st.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total value of $54,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $648,535.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 143.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 380,529 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,506,000 after buying an additional 224,146 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 164.9% during the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 295,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 183,796 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,391 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,485,000 after purchasing an additional 139,047 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,027,000 after purchasing an additional 105,764 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $1,701,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $14.79 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.80. OceanFirst Financial has a 52 week low of $12.01 and a 52 week high of $19.58. The stock has a market cap of $868.32 million, a PE ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $98.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.45 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 6.17%. Equities research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.