Raymond James Upgrades OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) to "Strong-Buy"

Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. 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. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.42.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $17.79. 807,825 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 300,968. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $19.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.72. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $21.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.04.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued 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 dividend yield of 4.50%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the company'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 in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $218,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 35,758 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 2,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 633.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,639 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $279,000 after purchasing an additional 15,235 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.