OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Upgraded by Piper Sandler to Hold Rating

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) was upgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on OCFC. DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $18.60 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial has a 1 year low of $16.09 and a 1 year high of $20.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.99. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $18.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.71.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $103.20 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, equities research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 6,998 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $155,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew 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 buying 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 about $184,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $186,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.