The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 489,306 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,556,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.85% of OceanFirst Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at about $194,135,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,409,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $61,499,000 after purchasing an additional 179,364 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,118 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 9,154 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,265,615 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $58,618,000 after purchasing an additional 877,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.1%

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $17.05 and a one year high of $20.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 6.38%.The business had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.62 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on OCFC. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.50.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

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.