OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $21.33 Average Price Target from Analysts

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $38,976,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,998,148 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $35,867,000 after buying an additional 123,691 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $186,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $247,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $18.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $14.29 and a 1 year high of $20.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.70 and a 200-day moving average of $18.54.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%.The company had revenue of $104.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.20 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.