OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Key Points

• OceanFirst Financial Corp. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, which reflects a 4.59% yield based on an annualized dividend of $0.80.
• The company reported a net margin of 13.59% but missed earnings estimates with $0.31 EPS, below the expected $0.33.
• Equities analysts have set a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for OceanFirst Financial, with an average price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th.

OceanFirst Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 41.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect OceanFirst Financial to earn $2.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.0%.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:OCFC traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $17.43. 326,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 303,777. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.61 and a 200-day moving average of $17.36. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.29 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $99.37 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 5.38%. As a group, equities analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 7,359 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 45,673 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on OCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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