OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $20.42 Average PT from Brokerages

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.42.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on OCFC shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $17.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.91. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 1.04.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. As a group, equities analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter worth about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 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.