OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Announces Earnings Results

Key Points

• OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) reported earnings of $0.36 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.01.
• Following the earnings report, OCFC shares rose by 1.6%, closing at $19.33, with trading volumes significantly higher than average.
• Analysts have varied opinions on OCFC, with one rating it as a Strong Buy, while another downgraded it to a Strong Sell, and the average target price is set at $21.80.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The savings and loans company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.02, Zacks reports. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.22% and a net margin of 12.89%.The firm had revenue of $102.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.56 million.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $19.33 on Thursday. OceanFirst Financial has a one year low of $14.29 and a one year high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $18.02 and its 200 day moving average is $17.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.02.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 56.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 7,359 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,417,000 after acquiring an additional 11,262 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 45,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 15.6% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,450 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson upgraded OceanFirst Financial to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered OceanFirst Financial from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, September 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.80.

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.