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

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.42.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on OCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $20.27 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.26 and a 200-day moving average of $17.43. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.79 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.