OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock 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 note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research raised OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, DA Davidson raised OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.60.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.2%

OCFC opened at $19.76 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.17. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $20.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 15.32 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 14th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 5.02%. As a group, research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the first quarter valued at about $624,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,036 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,009,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 100,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,614,000 after buying an additional 14,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 21,961 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 1,257 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.