OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• OCFC passed above its 200-day moving average (200‑day MA $18.53), trading as high as $19.31 and last at $19.11 on volume of about 1.21 million shares.
• Analysts have a consensus "Hold" rating (one Buy, four Holds) with a consensus target price of $21.33 after recent downgrades from firms including Raymond James and DA Davidson.
• Fundamentals: OceanFirst beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.41 vs. $0.39) and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.20 (annualized yield ~4.2%, payout ratio ~69%).

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $18.53 and traded as high as $19.31. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $19.11, with a volume of 1,212,829 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on OCFC shares. Raymond James Financial lowered OceanFirst Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered OceanFirst Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.56 and a 200 day moving average of $18.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%.The firm had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.20 million. On average, analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $395,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $186,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $38,976,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,998,148 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $35,867,000 after buying an additional 123,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation NASDAQ: OCFC is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company's core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.

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