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

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $18.00.

OCFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, May 31st. StockNews.com raised OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In other OceanFirst Financial news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $54,215.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $648,535.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 143.3% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 380,529 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after purchasing an additional 224,146 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 164.9% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 295,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 183,796 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,391 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,485,000 after buying an additional 139,047 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,027,000 after buying an additional 105,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $1,701,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.4 %

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $14.83 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.81. The company has a market cap of $870.67 million, a P/E ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 1.02. OceanFirst Financial has a 52-week low of $12.01 and a 52-week high of $19.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 15.54%. The firm had revenue of $98.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.45 million. Analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

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.