OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OCFC. DA Davidson lowered shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research raised OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $624,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,036 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,009,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 100.0% in the first quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 100,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,614,000 after acquiring an additional 14,590 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6.1% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 21,961 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.76 and its 200-day moving average is $18.25.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 5.02%. The business had revenue of $102.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.56 million. Equities research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 62.02%.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.