OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC Stock Position Decreased by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC significantly reduced its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp., selling 41,390 shares and now holding only 1,688 shares valued at $29,000.
• OceanFirst Financial recently reported a quarterly earnings miss, with earnings of $0.31 per share, falling short of the $0.33 consensus estimate.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.3% and a dividend payout ratio of 56.74%.

AlphaQuest LLC decreased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 96.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,688 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 41,390 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $29,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter worth about $175,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $183,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $192,000. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,728 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 25.8% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,132 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 2,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Zacks Research lowered OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.34. The stock had a trading volume of 323,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,148. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 1.07. The company's 50 day moving average is $17.84 and its 200-day moving average is $17.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 12.89%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.74%.

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.