OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

OCFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target 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, Hovde Group increased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.82 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $21.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.04. 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 fifty day moving average price of $19.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.91.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $20,130,000 after buying an additional 925,283 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 223,203 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after purchasing an additional 164,626 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,828,000 after purchasing an additional 158,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.