Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 151,663 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 32,928 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $2,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 5,048 shares during the last quarter. EMC Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6,001.3% during the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,152 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 9,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 911.7% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,542 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on OCFC shares. Hovde Group lowered their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $14.76 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $864.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.25. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 14.45% and a return on equity of 5.75%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

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.