OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group increased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $62,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10 and a beta of 1.04. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $14.03 and a 1-year high of $21.87. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

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

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.