OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 752,900 shares, an increase of 20.7% from the March 15th total of 623,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 314,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of 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. Hovde Group lowered their target price 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, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $21.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,499,000 after purchasing an additional 289,230 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 697,788 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $12,630,000 after acquiring an additional 178,761 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 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 valued at $23,074,000 after acquiring an additional 157,711 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $2,695,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% in the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.24. 71,065 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 293,786. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $948.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $16.67 and its 200 day moving average is $18.12.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35. The company had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.