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

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.6667.

A number of analysts have issued reports on OCFC shares. Wall Street Zen raised OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of OCFC opened at $18.45 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.41 and its 200 day moving average is $18.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $16.09 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%.The company had revenue of $103.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.25 million. Research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 4.3%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 68.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $155,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.