AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 158,590 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 158,590 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.37% of OceanFirst Financial worth $12,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 0.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 137,196 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,434 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% during the second 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 during the period. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.3 %

OCFC stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.64. 245,169 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 313,222. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.37 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $12.01 and a fifty-two week high of $18.98. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $17.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.03). OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 14.78%. The company had revenue of $170.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Hovde Group upped their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.90.

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.