Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 750,770 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 62,500 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.28% of OceanFirst Financial worth $13,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $57,027,000 after purchasing an additional 105,764 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $15,196,000 after purchasing an additional 164,626 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $12,828,000 after acquiring an additional 158,590 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 223,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 498,113 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $7,915,000 after acquiring an additional 21,765 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OCFC stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.47. The stock had a trading volume of 332,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,439. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 1.04. The company's 50-day moving average price is $19.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.35. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.79 million. As a group, research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $20.42.

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.