Keeley Teton Advisors LLC Sells 62,803 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Keeley Teton Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 34.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 120,719 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 62,803 shares during the period. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $1,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter valued at about $39,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter valued at about $172,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter valued at about $216,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 15,194 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.58. 271,475 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 380,236. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.75. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $12.01 and a twelve month high of $19.58.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $170.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.93 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.87% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 5th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. StockNews.com raised OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James cut their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (down previously from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.49, for a total transaction of $54,215.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $648,535.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.