OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Hits New 52-Week High at $18.97

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $18.97 and last traded at $18.71, with a volume of 146947 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.2 %

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $170.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.93 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.78% and a return on equity of 5.85%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Monday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 5th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCFC. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after purchasing an additional 164,626 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,828,000 after buying an additional 158,590 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,391 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,485,000 after acquiring an additional 139,047 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,027,000 after acquiring an additional 105,764 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 272,243 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,326,000 after acquiring an additional 66,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.