OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Raymond James

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) was upgraded by analysts at Raymond James from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $17.79 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.04. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 32.6% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 272,243 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 66,918 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 105.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 69,981 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 35,994 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after acquiring an additional 223,203 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 299,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,566,000 after acquiring an additional 34,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 254.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 40,214 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 28,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.