Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 36.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,859 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 12,810 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in 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 buying an additional 157,711 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $21,879,000 after buying an additional 121,923 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,049,000 after acquiring an additional 89,099 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $17.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $998.98 million, a P/E ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.03. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $14.03 and a 52 week high of $21.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.44.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 48.48%.

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.