OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $20.33

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.33.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OCFC. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th.

Insider Transactions at OceanFirst Financial

In related news, Director John 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 value of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total value of $104,005.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,570,815.88. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 10,940 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,710 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 179.0% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,187 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 3,328 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 23.4% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,674 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 27,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 9.6% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 32,994 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $15.75 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.60. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $15.65 and a 12 month high of $20.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 1.02.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.62 million. Equities analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 94.12%.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey. The company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through its branch network and digital banking channels.

OceanFirst Bank offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate accounts, along with residential mortgage, home equity, commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, consumer and small-business loans.