Royce & Associates LP Acquires 191,383 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,662,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 191,383 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 2.90% of OceanFirst Financial worth $29,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after purchasing an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 45,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,036 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,009,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC opened at $18.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.80 and its 200-day moving average is $18.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $20.61.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCFC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

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.