OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sets New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $20.15 and last traded at $19.87, with a volume of 10093 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OCFC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective 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 given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.30.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.01. The company's 50 day moving average is $17.97 and its 200 day moving average is $16.61.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 45.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. 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. Boston Partners raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,391,127 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $22,505,000 after buying an additional 42,966 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $15,196,000 after buying an additional 164,626 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $12,828,000 after acquiring an additional 158,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,635,000 after acquiring an additional 223,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

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.