OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.42.

OCFC has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, 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 1.8 %

OCFC stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.68. The company had a trading volume of 178,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,478. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.04. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 498,113 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $7,915,000 after buying an additional 21,765 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,758 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 633.7% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,639 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 15,235 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares in 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.