CWA Asset Management Group LLC Acquires Shares of 12,500 OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,500 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,130,000 after buying an additional 925,283 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after buying an additional 164,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,049,000 after buying an additional 89,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OCFC stock opened at $18.03 on Friday. 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 Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30 and a beta of 1.06.

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

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on OCFC shares. Hovde Group boosted their target price 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 restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.42.

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.