Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 54,506 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

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% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 272,579 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 54,506 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.47% of OceanFirst Financial worth $4,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter valued at about $13,160,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter valued at about $175,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,731,785 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $29,458,000 after buying an additional 56,526 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,516,177 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $59,810,000 after buying an additional 61,515 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.4% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 153,801 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.53. 398,863 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 300,456. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.17. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 5.22%. On average, analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.