Foundry Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Foundry Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,194 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 3,213 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $176,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $14.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $12.01 and a 1 year high of $19.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $891.76 million, a PE ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.34%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on OCFC. Raymond James lowered their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial 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.