97,974 Shares in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Purchased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 97,974 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,701,000. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.16% of OceanFirst Financial as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 19.3% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter valued at about $176,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 42.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,725 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 3,796 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 2.5 %

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $14.99 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 one year low of $12.01 and a one year high of $19.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $892.35 million, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

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

OceanFirst Financial Company 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.