OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $18.66 and traded as high as $18.88. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $18.80, with a volume of 795,956 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OCFC. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.67.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.66.

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 business had revenue of $103.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.25 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 5.35%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $38,976,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 97.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,388,304 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $41,963,000 after buying an additional 1,181,553 shares in the last quarter. Kestrel Investment Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter worth about $3,587,000. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,662,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $29,213,000 after buying an additional 191,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 15.1% in the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,383,588 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,960,000 after buying an additional 181,557 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.