OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Sold by Bridgeway Capital Management LLC

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Free Report) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 258,445 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 18,556 shares during the quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of OceanFirst Financial worth $4,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,228,902 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $58,442,000 after buying an additional 53,476 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,675,259 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $30,322,000 after purchasing an additional 67,010 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,208,800 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $21,879,000 after purchasing an additional 121,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 763,840 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,826,000 after purchasing an additional 30,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $17.56. 237,010 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 298,139. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 0.99. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The business had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OCFC. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on 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. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James dropped 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.67.

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.