Analysts Set OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Price Target at $20.67

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.67.

Several research analysts recently commented on OCFC shares. Hovde Group dropped their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James decreased their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,985.9% in the 4th quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 303,794 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,499,000 after buying an additional 289,230 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 34.3% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,026,099 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,454,000 after purchasing an additional 262,259 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 697,788 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,630,000 after purchasing an additional 178,761 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 14.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,241,191 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $23,074,000 after purchasing an additional 157,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,695,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $16.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $971.46 million, a P/E ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.99. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. The firm had revenue of $97.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.66 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 5th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.29%.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.