Two Sigma Investments LP Reduces Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Two Sigma Investments LP reduced its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 270,233 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 55,422 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP owned about 0.46% of OceanFirst Financial worth $4,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,499,000 after purchasing an additional 289,230 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 697,788 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $12,630,000 after acquiring an additional 178,761 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth $2,695,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $21,879,000 after acquiring an additional 121,923 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 88,292 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.8%

OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $16.94. 310,593 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 298,156. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $989.02 million, a P/E ratio of 10.27 and a beta of 0.99. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $16.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.78. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.72%. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OCFC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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. Raymond James dropped their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.