OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC Stock Position Lifted by Third Avenue Management LLC

Key Points

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Third Avenue Management LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 91.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,643 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 55,784 shares during the quarter. Third Avenue Management LLC owned about 0.20% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large 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 about $13,160,000. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 34.3% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,026,099 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $17,454,000 after buying an additional 262,259 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,695,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 9.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,326,378 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $22,562,000 after buying an additional 117,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 160,837 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,911,000 after buying an additional 88,292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 6.1%

NASDAQ OCFC traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.25. 467,926 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 296,825. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $21.87. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.04.

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 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 business had revenue of $99.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.26 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price 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 investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.