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

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 Wednesday, July 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th.

OceanFirst Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 41.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock traded down $0.27 on Tuesday, reaching $17.12. 244,114 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 278,120. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.60 and a 200 day moving average of $17.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $999.53 million, a PE ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 0.99. OceanFirst Financial has a 52 week low of $14.29 and a 52 week high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $99.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.26 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.18% and a net margin of 12.89%. Equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 11,262 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. 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. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

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.