OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.67.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of 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 Financial decreased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 140,665 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,546,000 after acquiring an additional 30,373 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 43,277 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 16,110 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 160,837 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,911,000 after acquiring an additional 88,292 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 130,860 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,369,000 after acquiring an additional 17,513 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 66.0% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 41,873 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 16,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $16.65 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $16.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.41. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.29 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $972.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.99. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.38% and a net margin of 13.59%. The firm had revenue of $97.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $95.66 million. As a group, analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is presently 52.29%.

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.

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