Royce & Associates LP Sells 296,005 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 17.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,366,648 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 296,005 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $24,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $155,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% in the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $184,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 7.7% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,343 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $19.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 1.01. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52-week low of $16.09 and a 52-week high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $103.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.25 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on OCFC shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.67.

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.