OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $19.46, but opened at $18.96. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $19.31, with a volume of 34,901 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.90.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 5.85%. The company had revenue of $170.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 137,196 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,434 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 41,625 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter worth about $25,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.