OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain cautious: OceanFirst Financial has an average “Hold” rating from six brokerages, with five holds and one buy. The average 12-month price target is $21.50, compared with the stock’s recent price of $19.08.
• Quarterly results met expectations: The company reported earnings of $0.43 per share, in line with consensus, while revenue of $131.33 million fell short of the $135.62 million estimate.
• Dividend yield is 4.2%: OceanFirst declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, or $0.80 annualized. Insiders own 5.4% of the company, while institutional investors hold nearly 71%.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. DA Davidson increased their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $21.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total value of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 174.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $103,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $19.08 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $19.23 and its 200-day moving average is $18.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 0.99. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $17.05 and a 12-month high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.62 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.12%.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation NASDAQ: OCFC is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company's core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.

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