OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on OCFC shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. DA Davidson increased their price objective 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, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,662,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $29,213,000 after purchasing an additional 191,383 shares during the period. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 897,091 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,762,000 after purchasing an additional 141,463 shares during the period. Kestrel Investment Management Corp acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,587,000. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $484,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 490.4% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,154 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 28,369 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $18.20 on Wednesday. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $16.09 and a 12 month high of $20.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 5.35%. The firm had revenue of $103.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.25 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.38%.

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.