OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an outperform rating and set a $19.00 target price (down from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Monday. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four equities 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, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of OCFC opened at $15.23 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $906.64 million, a P/E ratio of 8.91 and a beta of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $12.01 and a 12-month high of $19.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.40.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,295,098 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $47,680,000 after purchasing an additional 57,423 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 11.1% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,394,141 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,660,000 after purchasing an additional 139,646 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,234,836 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,868,000 after purchasing an additional 40,030 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,046,061 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $18,160,000 after purchasing an additional 66,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 834,391 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,485,000 after acquiring an additional 139,047 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by 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.