OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 34,669 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 35,312 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 52,792 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 12,754 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 59,216.3% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 51,012 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 50,926 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter valued at $172,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,027,000 after acquiring an additional 105,764 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OCFC opened at $20.49 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $18.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $13.41 and a fifty-two week high of $21.34. 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 (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. Research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at $3,553,662.51. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OCFC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group upped their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.30.

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.