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

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective (down from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James lowered their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $15.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99. OceanFirst Financial has a one year low of $12.01 and a one year high of $19.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.48. The company has a market cap of $917.05 million, a PE ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.12%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,295,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $47,680,000 after buying an additional 57,423 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,394,141 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,660,000 after acquiring an additional 139,646 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,234,836 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $17,868,000 after acquiring an additional 40,030 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,046,061 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $18,160,000 after purchasing an additional 66,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,391 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,485,000 after purchasing an additional 139,047 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.