OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $21.60 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Several analysts have commented on OCFC shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Wall Street Zen cut OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 97.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,388,304 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $41,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,553 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,874,457 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $32,934,000 after purchasing an additional 57,246 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,662,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $29,213,000 after purchasing an additional 191,383 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,614,000 after buying an additional 14,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.2% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 983,771 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,324,000 after buying an additional 11,777 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.87 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.25. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 14th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 5.02%. As a group, equities analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 62.02%.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.