OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives $20.42 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.42.

A number of equities research 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,421,373 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,428,000 after purchasing an additional 27,579 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,130,000 after buying an additional 925,283 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after buying an additional 164,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,049,000 after acquiring an additional 89,099 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $18.10 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.04. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.79 million. On average, analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.