Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Takes Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC has purchased 41,023 shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp., investing approximately $698,000 and now holding about 0.07% of the company.
• Analysts have revised their price target for OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00, with a current average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.67.
• OceanFirst Financial recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.20, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.7% with a payout ratio of 56.74%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 41,023 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $698,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.07% of OceanFirst Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OCFC. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter valued at about $13,160,000. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 34.3% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,026,099 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $17,454,000 after acquiring an additional 262,259 shares during the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $2,695,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 160,837 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 88,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 518.5% during the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 103,961 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 87,152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 6.1%

OCFC stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.25. 467,926 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 296,825. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.16. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.29 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.04.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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). OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 12.89%.The firm had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $101.26 million. On average, research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.