OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Announces Earnings Results

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%.The firm had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC stock opened at $18.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.26. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $14.29 and a 1-year high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the 2nd 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. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter worth $281,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter worth $295,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting OceanFirst Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting OceanFirst Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20/share (116th consecutive quarter), yielding ~4.2%; ex?dividend Feb 2, payable Feb 13 — supports income investors and helps underpin the share base. GlobeNewswire
• Positive Sentiment: Strong loan growth and NII expansion: total loans rose by roughly $474M in the quarter (18% annualized) and net interest income increased ~5% Q/Q to $95.3M, helping core earnings and PTPP despite other headwinds. This is a key driver of underlying profitability improvement. GlobeNewswire
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic scale/capital moves: company disclosed a merger agreement with Flushing Financial and an equity investment from Warburg Pincus intended to boost scale and financial performance — a potential long?term positive if the deal closes and regulatory approvals follow. GlobeNewswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported EPS beat on the consensus metric: GAAP EPS (reported as core diluted measure) came in slightly above street estimates ($0.41 vs. ~$0.39) and revenue topped expectations — a modest near?term positive but tempered by other items. MSN / earnings coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call/transcript and analyst previews available — useful for detail on balance?sheet dynamics, merger timing and guidance but no material guidance change announced. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP net income fell materially: Q4 net income available to common shareholders was $13.1M ($0.23/sh) vs. $20.9M a year earlier and operating metrics like ROE/ROA declined — investors penalize weaker reported profitability. Quiver Quant summary
• Negative Sentiment: Higher non?core and operating expenses: the quarter included ~$7.4M restructuring charges, ~$4.3M merger?related expenses and other one?time costs that pushed the efficiency ratio up to ~80% (worse than prior periods), pressuring reported earnings. GlobeNewswire

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OCFC. Wall Street Zen cut OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Zacks Research raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. DA Davidson cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.