OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. by 25.0%, owning 272,579 shares valued at approximately $4.64 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Analysts have lowered OceanFirst Financial's price target from $21.00 to $20.00, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" despite a recent earnings miss.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 4.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 56.74%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 25.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 272,579 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 54,506 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.47% of OceanFirst Financial worth $4,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,454 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,728 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,732 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 66,915 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.20 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.29 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The stock has a market cap of $986.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.57 and a 200-day moving average of $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 (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.02). OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 12.89%.The business had revenue of $99.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.26 million. Equities analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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