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

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.50.

OCFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price target 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 reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 45,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 15.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,450 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 3,295 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC opened at $19.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.82. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $17.05 and a 1 year high of $20.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. The company had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.62 million. Research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.12%.

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.