OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $18.00 and traded as high as $18.35. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $18.12, with a volume of 364,788 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OCFC has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group raised their price objective 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 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.42.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $19.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. Analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.