OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $21.60.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. DA Davidson lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $624,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 11,646 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 100.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,614,000 after purchasing an additional 14,590 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,257 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $17.26 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $990.55 million, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.07. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.24.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 62.02%.

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.