OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $104.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 5.02%.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $19.19. The stock had a trading volume of 953,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 843,834. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $20.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.79 and its 200-day moving average is $18.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on OCFC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Raymond James Financial cut OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 7,359 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 45,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 15.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,450 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 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 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.