Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Price

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its price target decreased by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $21.00 to $20.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 22.66% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James decreased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four 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.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.67.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $16.31. The stock had a trading volume of 45,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,311. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.12. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87. The company has a market cap of $951.90 million, a P/E ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.66 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $632,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 35.0% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 20,704 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 5,368 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,194 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 3,306.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,578 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 14,150 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,319 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.