Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 5.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,008 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 3,396 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter worth $251,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 27.3% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 434,601 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $8,031,000 after purchasing an additional 93,114 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 93,339 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 258.6% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 10,816 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,800 shares during the period. Finally, Credit Suisse AG raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% during the first quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 72,868 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 4,053 shares during the period. 70.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, July 21st. TheStreet upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.75.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.52. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $12.81 and a one year high of $24.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The savings and loans company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 25.28%. The firm had revenue of $101.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.20 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 7th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.62%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 32.79%.

OceanFirst Financial Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing demand deposits, and time deposits to retail, government, and business customers.