Rhumbline Advisers Purchases 1,863 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,274 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.16% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,130,000 after purchasing an additional 925,283 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after buying an additional 223,203 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,074,000 after acquiring an additional 157,711 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,049,000 after acquiring an additional 89,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% in the third 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 period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $21.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.48.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial 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.