Stephens Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC)

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by stock analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $20.00 price target on the savings and loans company’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 33.60% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TheStreet raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.50.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.97. 78,544 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 322,629. The stock has a market capitalization of $891.16 million, a PE ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.35 and a 200 day moving average of $15.36. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $12.01 and a fifty-two week high of $19.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 16.21%. The firm had revenue of $99.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $97.26 million. On average, analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 162.1% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,562 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 118.6% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,974 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter worth $34,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 279.6% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,331 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,240.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.