Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $401,000 Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 1,810.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,138 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,979 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 5,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $183,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC traded up $0.49 during trading on Friday, reaching $17.29. 260,497 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 298,606. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.70. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $14.10 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The business had revenue of $97.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. As a group, analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on 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. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.