Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Buys Shares of 148,890 OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 148,890 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $2,695,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.25% of OceanFirst Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,228,902 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $58,442,000 after acquiring an additional 53,476 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,675,259 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $30,322,000 after purchasing an additional 67,010 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $23,074,000 after buying an additional 157,711 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $21,879,000 after buying an additional 121,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 763,840 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $13,826,000 after buying an additional 30,399 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.72. The company had a trading volume of 275,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 296,393. The stock has a market capitalization of $976.13 million, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $16.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. The company had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. Equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is currently 52.29%.

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.