DA Davidson Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at DA Davidson from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. DA Davidson’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.37% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.75.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock remained flat at $20.49 during trading on Monday. 23,841 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 302,335. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.92. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $13.41 and a 12-month high of $21.34. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 71,504 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 137,196 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,815 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.