Brokerages Set OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Price Target at $19.75

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.75.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of OCFC stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 297,418. OceanFirst Financial has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $21.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.33. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. Analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $57,027,000 after purchasing an additional 105,764 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during the 3rd 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $20,130,000 after acquiring an additional 925,283 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $15,196,000 after acquiring an additional 164,626 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $17,049,000 after acquiring an additional 89,099 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.