OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on OCFC shares. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC stock opened at $19.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $16.09 and a 1-year high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%.The firm had revenue of $103.19 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.25 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.38%.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $38,976,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 97.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,388,304 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $41,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,553 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,383,588 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,960,000 after purchasing an additional 181,557 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,409,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $61,499,000 after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 114.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 307,356 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,545,000 after buying an additional 164,313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.