OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have assigned OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) an average recommendation of "Hold", with one sell, three hold, two buy, and one strong buy recommendations.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.3% and with a payout ratio of 62.02%.
• OceanFirst Financial's stock saw a 2.7% increase, with a 52-week range from $14.29 to $21.87 and a current price of $18.69.

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.80.

OCFC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 1st. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of OceanFirst Financial to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 61.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,441 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,987 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,609 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 21,744 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 6,300 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.69 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $18.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. OceanFirst Financial has a 52-week low of $14.29 and a 52-week high of $21.87. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 1.02.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 14th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 5.00%. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. OceanFirst Financial's payout ratio is currently 62.02%.

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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