OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

OCFC has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.7%

OCFC stock opened at $18.23 on Wednesday. OceanFirst Financial has a 52-week low of $14.29 and a 52-week high of $20.61. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.25.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.20 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $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 OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $155,000. EMC Capital Management boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.7% during 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 grew its stake 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 buying an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.