Bank of New York Mellon Corp Takes Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon acquired 644,780 OceanFirst Financial shares worth approximately $12.6 million, representing about 1.12% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 70.98% of OCFC.
• Analysts remain generally cautious, with one Buy rating and five Holds; the consensus rating is Hold with a $21.50 price target. OCFC recently traded at $18.53.
• OceanFirst reported quarterly EPS of $0.43, matching estimates, and paid a $0.20 quarterly dividend, equivalent to an annualized $0.80 payout and a 4.3% yield. Two insiders also sold shares in August.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 644,780 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $12,593,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.12% of OceanFirst Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,976,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 97.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,388,304 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $41,963,000 after purchasing an additional 1,181,553 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,383,588 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $24,960,000 after purchasing an additional 181,557 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,409,103 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $61,499,000 after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 114.9% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 307,356 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,545,000 after purchasing an additional 164,313 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on OCFC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $21.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.50.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $18.53 on Wednesday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $17.05 and a 52 week high of $20.61. The business's 50 day moving average price is $19.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 0.98.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43. The company had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.62 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.12%.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total value of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total value of $104,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,570,815.88. The trade was a 6.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corporation NASDAQ: OCFC is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company's core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.

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