Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Raises Stock Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 64.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,238 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,450 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.13% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,695,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 700,247 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $12,674,000 after buying an additional 24,634 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 553,363 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $10,016,000 after buying an additional 27,971 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 106,912 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 38,987 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ OCFC traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.55. The stock had a trading volume of 404,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,204. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.64 and a beta of 0.99. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $16.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.98.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The business had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is 52.29%.

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.