SG Americas Securities LLC Boosts Stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 490.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,154 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,369 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.06% of OceanFirst Financial worth $600,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $5,182,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 4.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,817,211 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $32,001,000 after buying an additional 85,426 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 124.5% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 89,374 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,574,000 after buying an additional 49,571 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 45,673 shares during the period. Finally, Third Avenue Management LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 39.1% in the second quarter. Third Avenue Management LLC now owns 162,238 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,857,000 after buying an additional 45,595 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More OceanFirst Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting OceanFirst Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat vs. consensus on core EPS and revenue — the company reported core diluted EPS of $0.41 (Zacks consensus $0.39) and revenue slightly above estimates, which supports near‑term investor confidence in underlying earnings power. OCFC Surpasses Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Strong loan growth and improving net interest performance — total loans grew sharply (quarterly increase cited at ~$474M) and net interest income rose ~5% QoQ, with NIM improving to ~2.87% (quarter) / 2.90% (year), which should support future core income. Q4 Earnings with Strong Loan Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic items that add optionality — the board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 and management highlighted a pending merger with Flushing Financial plus an investment from Warburg Pincus aimed at scale and performance improvements; both can be value‑accretive if completed. Reports Mixed Earnings, Declares Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Credit risk transfer & capital impact — management executed a credit risk transfer on a $1.5B residential loan pool that materially reduced risk‑weighted assets and helped CET1 (~10.7%), which improves regulatory capital metrics but is a one‑time technical adjustment. Quarterly and Annual Financial Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call and investor guidance cadence — management scheduled an earnings call and emphasized 2026 focus areas (merger integration, profitability initiatives); useful for forward guidance but outcomes depend on future execution. Earnings Release / Conference Call
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP profitability materially lower — GAAP net income fell to $13.1M (GAAP diluted EPS $0.23) in Q4 and full‑year net income declined to $67.1M ($1.17) vs. $96.0M ($1.65) the prior year, weighing on headline earnings metrics and valuation multiples. Q4 Earnings: Key Metrics vs Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Rising expenses and one‑time charges — operating expenses jumped due to $7.4M of restructuring charges, ~$4.3M of merger‑related expenses and other non‑core items, pushing the efficiency ratio higher (~80.4%) and pressuring near‑term margins and ROE. Earnings with Restructuring & Merger Costs
• Negative Sentiment: Asset‑quality and provisioning trends — modestly higher net charge‑offs and an increase in 30–89 day delinquencies (including one commercial relationship) offset improvements in non‑performing loans, creating some near‑term credit uncertainty. Asset Quality Details

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on OCFC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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 OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $19.19 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $14.29 and a fifty-two week high of $20.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $104.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.02% and a net margin of 11.77%. On average, analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.02%.

OceanFirst Financial 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.