Analysts Set OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Target Price at $21.50

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.50.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $194,135,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 58.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,114,069 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $80,348,000 after buying an additional 1,518,636 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,409,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $61,499,000 after buying an additional 179,364 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,118 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $61,158,000 after buying an additional 9,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $38,976,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.80. OceanFirst Financial has a 52-week low of $17.05 and a 52-week high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. The company had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.62 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.12%.

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.