OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.83.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group dropped their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $18.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.06. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 98.3% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,737 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 3,835 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.