OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Price Target Cut to $21.00 by Analysts at Raymond James

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its target price reduced by Raymond James from $24.00 to $21.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a strong-buy rating on the savings and loans company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

OCFC opened at $17.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.44.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,228,902 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $58,442,000 after acquiring an additional 53,476 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,675,259 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $30,322,000 after purchasing an additional 67,010 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $21,879,000 after purchasing an additional 121,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.