OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $20.67 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.67.

Several brokerages have commented on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $17.67 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.29 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $16.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The business had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.38% and a net margin of 13.59%. Equities analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.53%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 94,274 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,048 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $446,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 44,371 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.