KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Invests $539,000 in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 29,800 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $539,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.05% of OceanFirst Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCFC. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during 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 buying an additional 27,579 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $23,074,000 after acquiring an additional 157,711 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 121,923 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $20,130,000 after purchasing an additional 925,283 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $17,049,000 after purchasing an additional 89,099 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hovde Group cut their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OCFC traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.86. 333,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 292,070. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $870.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 48.48%.

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.