OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $20.83 Consensus PT from Brokerages

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given 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.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on OCFC shares. Raymond James upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Hovde Group dropped their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $20,130,000 after acquiring an additional 925,283 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% during the fourth quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,499,000 after purchasing an additional 289,230 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 697,788 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,630,000 after buying an additional 178,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in 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 buying an additional 157,711 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $17.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 1.03. OceanFirst Financial has a 52-week low of $14.03 and a 52-week high of $21.87. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.44.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 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.