OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. DA Davidson downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $18.75 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $18.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.07. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.29 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 10.33% and a return on equity of 5.14%. The business had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.20 million. Equities analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCFC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after buying an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after purchasing an additional 11,262 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after buying an additional 45,673 shares during the period. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 9.2% in the second quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 27,200 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.