Strs Ohio Purchases Shares of 36,700 OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. by purchasing 36,700 shares, valued at approximately $624,000, during the first quarter of the year.
• Despite recent institutional investments, Zacks Research downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, reflecting mixed analyst sentiments about the stock.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 56.74%.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 36,700 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $624,000. Strs Ohio owned 0.06% of OceanFirst Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and 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 approximately $13,160,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1,226.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 464,258 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $7,897,000 after acquiring an additional 429,259 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 34.3% during the 1st 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 9.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,326,378 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $22,562,000 after acquiring an additional 117,578 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 121.7% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.4%

OCFC traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $18.05. The company had a trading volume of 54,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 300,873. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.07. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $14.29 and a one year high of $21.87. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $17.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $99.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 12.89% and a return on equity of 5.22%. As a group, equities analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Zacks Research lowered shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, September 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

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.