OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $18.30 and traded as high as $19.83. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $19.57, with a volume of 437,616 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.1%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,036 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,009,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,614,000 after purchasing an additional 14,590 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,182,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter worth $282,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 124.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 89,374 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 49,571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.