OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,296,318 shares, a decrease of 34.8% from the May 31st total of 5,054,943 shares. Approximately 6.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,305,458 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $155,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $184,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $186,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $19.62 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.65. OceanFirst Financial has a one year low of $16.09 and a one year high of $20.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.98.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%.The firm had revenue of $103.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.25 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 27th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 68.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on OCFC shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $19.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.