OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

Several analysts recently issued reports on OCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group increased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC opened at $19.94 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.50. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.04. OceanFirst Financial has a 52 week low of $14.03 and a 52 week high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.79 million. On average, analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.