OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $18.65 and traded as high as $19.63. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 1,286,518 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.64.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%.The business had revenue of $103.19 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.25 million. Analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 16.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 493,623 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $8,905,000 after purchasing an additional 68,347 shares during the period. Amundi purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter worth about $259,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,065 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $885,000 after buying an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 210,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 19,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 29,567 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

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.