OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Short Interest Update

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,901,706 shares, an increase of 20.3% from the January 15th total of 2,411,785 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 847,198 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Based on an average trading volume of 847,198 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $155,000. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 8.7% in the second quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,952 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OCFC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. DA Davidson lowered OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Wall Street Zen raised OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OCFC stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $19.71. The company had a trading volume of 501,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,245. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.00 and a 200-day moving average of $18.38.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $104.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

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.