AQR Capital Management LLC Sells 176,977 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management reduced its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. by 23.5%, selling 176,977 shares, and now owns 577,501 shares valued at approximately $9.8 million.
• OceanFirst Financial's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.31, missing the consensus estimate by $0.02, with total revenues of $99.37 million.
• Zacks Research has downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell," impacting its overall rating which includes one "Strong Buy," one "Buy," four "Hold," and one "Sell" ratings.

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 23.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 577,501 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 176,977 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.99% of OceanFirst Financial worth $9,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 132.3% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 7,325 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $175,000. PharVision Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $192,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,728 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,132 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 2,696 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.9%

OCFC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.12. 141,471 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 260,610. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $17.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.18. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.29 and a 1 year high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 12.89%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Zacks Research lowered shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

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.