OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $20.33

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.33.

OCFC has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.8%

OceanFirst Financial stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.83. 1,168,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,285,907. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $18.01 and a 200 day moving average of $18.57. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $15.65 and a 12-month high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. The business had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.62 million. Research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.12%.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In related news, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total value of $104,005.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,815.88. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 62.7% in the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 3,784 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,458 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 10,940 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 179.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 3,328 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,674 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 27,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey. The company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through its branch network and digital banking channels.

OceanFirst Bank offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate accounts, along with residential mortgage, home equity, commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, consumer and small-business loans.