OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Hits New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• OceanFirst Financial shares hit a new 52-week low of $16.10, down from the prior close of $16.42, with trading volume exceeding 1.3 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock carries an average “Hold” rating, with five Holds and one Buy, while Piper Sandler cut its price target from $21 to $18.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.43, in line with estimates, but revenue fell short of forecasts. OceanFirst maintains a $0.20 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 5.0% yield, although its payout ratio is high at 94.12%.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday. The stock traded as low as $16.10 and last traded at $16.1050, with a volume of 1386946 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $16.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut OceanFirst Financial from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.75.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.98 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.65.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 6.38%.The firm had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.62 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director John Buran sold 113,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total value of $2,201,182.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total transaction of $104,005.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,570,815.88. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $194,135,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,114,069 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $80,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518,636 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,593,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,209,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter worth $9,556,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey. The company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through its branch network and digital banking channels.

OceanFirst Bank offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate accounts, along with residential mortgage, home equity, commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, consumer and small-business loans.

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