OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $20.00 price target on the savings and loans company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on OCFC. Raymond James increased their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com cut OceanFirst Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, TheStreet raised OceanFirst Financial from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OCFC opened at $14.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $891.79 million, a P/E ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial has a 1-year low of $12.01 and a 1-year high of $19.58. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.34%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 46.78%.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 143.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 380,529 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,506,000 after acquiring an additional 224,146 shares during the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 164.9% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 295,234 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,125,000 after buying an additional 183,796 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,394,141 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $19,660,000 after buying an additional 139,646 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,391 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,485,000 after acquiring an additional 139,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $1,701,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.