OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $20.83 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.83.

OCFC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James raised OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC opened at $17.70 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.39.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. On average, analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

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.