OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $17.29 and traded as high as $17.87. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $17.61, with a volume of 271,360 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on OCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on 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 decreased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $16.98 and a 200-day moving average of $17.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.38% and a net margin of 13.59%. The business had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $95.66 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,516,177 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $59,810,000 after buying an additional 61,515 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1.7% during the fourth 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. grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,731,785 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $29,458,000 after purchasing an additional 56,526 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,326,378 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $22,562,000 after purchasing an additional 117,578 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,072,375 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $18,241,000 after purchasing an additional 72,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company's stock.

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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