OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $18.65 and traded as high as $19.63. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $19.53, with a volume of 1,286,518 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on OCFC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.2%

The business’s 50-day moving average is $18.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $103.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.25 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%. On average, analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $184,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $186,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.