OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $20.67 Average PT from Brokerages

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment 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 analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.67.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $13,160,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,226.5% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 464,258 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,897,000 after purchasing an additional 429,259 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,499,000 after purchasing an additional 289,230 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 34.3% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,026,099 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,454,000 after purchasing an additional 262,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 697,788 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,630,000 after purchasing an additional 178,761 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.68 on Thursday. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $14.29 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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 research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.29%.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.