OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Short Interest Up 20.7% in March

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 752,900 shares, a growth of 20.7% from the March 15th total of 623,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 314,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OCFC opened at $15.75 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $16.83 and its 200-day moving average is $18.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $919.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 0.94. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 48.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 807.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $100,000 after acquiring an additional 5,048 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.