OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.83.

Several analysts have issued reports on OCFC shares. Raymond James upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $16.78 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $982.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.46.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.77%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.