OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.30.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OCFC. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of OCFC stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.16. 280,283 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 243,771. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average is $18.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.71. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $12.93 and a 1 year high of $21.21.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 22.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 75,642 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 13,813 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 27,452 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 31.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 52,792 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $866,000 after acquiring an additional 12,754 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 59,216.3% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 51,012 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $837,000 after acquiring an additional 50,926 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Capital Co raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 33.1% during the first quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 153,824 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 38,218 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.