OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $21.33 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.3333.

A number of research firms have issued reports on OCFC. DA Davidson downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $395,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,976,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,998,148 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $35,867,000 after purchasing an additional 123,691 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of OCFC opened at $17.64 on Tuesday. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

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.