Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 61,515 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. by 1.8%, now owning 6.02% of the company, which is valued at approximately $59.8 million.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $20.67 for OceanFirst Financial, with ratings including one Strong Buy, one Buy, and four Holds.
• The company recently disclosed a quarterly dividend of $0.20, reflecting an annualized yield of 4.4%, with a payout ratio of 56.74%.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,516,177 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 61,515 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.02% of OceanFirst Financial worth $59,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,228,902 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $58,442,000 after buying an additional 53,476 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,999 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 66.9% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 14,525 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 5,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $356,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $18.42. 8,732 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 301,835. 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 Corp. has a 52-week low of $14.29 and a 52-week high of $21.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.72 and a 200-day moving average of $17.17.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released 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). OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 5.22%. The company had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.26 million. Analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is presently 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.