Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 23.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,883 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 41,911 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.23% of OceanFirst Financial worth $2,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 5,048 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth $183,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $17.50. The stock had a trading volume of 225,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,357. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.10 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $16.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61 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.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. Equities analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James lowered their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.67.

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.