OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

Several brokerages have recently commented on OCFC. Zacks Research raised 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. DA Davidson downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.26 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $990.55 million, a PE ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.07. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.29 and a fifty-two week high of $20.61.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given 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 4.6%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 62.02%.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 6,998 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.7% in the second quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,952 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,343 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.