Empowered Funds LLC Purchases Shares of 367,932 OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 367,932 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,186,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,417,000 after buying an additional 11,262 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 45,673 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 15.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,450 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 174.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 46,718 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $823,000 after acquiring an additional 29,668 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total value of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $18.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.32 and a 200-day moving average of $18.80. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $17.05 and a 52 week high of $20.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.62 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 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, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.12%.

OceanFirst Financial 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.