OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $19.30 Average Target Price from Brokerages

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.30.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,203 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after acquiring an additional 164,626 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,828,000 after acquiring an additional 158,590 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,027,000 after acquiring an additional 105,764 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 32.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 272,243 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,326,000 after purchasing an additional 66,918 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $21.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 1.01. 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 fifty day moving average of $18.13 and a 200-day moving average of $16.72. OceanFirst Financial has a one year low of $12.93 and a one year high of $21.21.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

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.