OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Bought by Bailard Inc.

Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,371 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OCFC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,130,000 after purchasing an additional 925,283 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,203 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,049,000 after purchasing an additional 89,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 13.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 299,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,566,000 after purchasing an additional 34,458 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $17.76 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $18.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.05. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. On average, research analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group dropped their price target 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. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial 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.