OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $17.04 and last traded at $17.0150, with a volume of 1020459 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.72.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The company had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.62 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 94.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at OceanFirst Financial

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total value of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total value of $104,005.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,570,815.88. The trade was a 6.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 174.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey. OceanFirst Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through its branch network and digital banking platforms.

The bank’s products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, home equity loans, consumer lending, commercial real estate financing, business loans and lines of credit.