OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Short Interest Update

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,901,706 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the January 15th total of 2,411,785 shares. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 847,198 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 847,198 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $155,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its position 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 buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OCFC. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of OCFC opened at $19.51 on Thursday. OceanFirst Financial has a twelve month low of $14.29 and a twelve month high of $20.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.07. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.41.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. 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. The firm had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.97%.

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.