Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 32,928 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 17.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 151,663 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 32,928 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.26% of OceanFirst Financial worth $2,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $26,428,000 after buying an additional 27,579 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 121,923 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 763,840 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $13,826,000 after purchasing an additional 30,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 733,190 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,400,000 after purchasing an additional 20,249 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.75. 284,005 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 295,633. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $16.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $937.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James dropped their price objective on 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. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced 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. Five investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.00.

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.