OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.67.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on OCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $18.29 on Thursday. OceanFirst Financial has a 52 week low of $14.29 and a 52 week high of $21.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $17.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.34.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.35. The company had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 5.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $57,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $183,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter valued at $175,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 911.7% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,542 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $191,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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