OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. DA Davidson cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth $155,000. EMC Capital Management raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.7% in the second quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,952 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $19.78 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 1.07. OceanFirst Financial has a twelve month low of $14.29 and a twelve month high of $20.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.