Brokerages Set OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Price Target at $18.20

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.20.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, April 19th. 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 raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter valued at $176,000. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $267,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 42.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,725 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,796 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 47.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,334 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seizert Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the third quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 144,735 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,094,000 after purchasing an additional 4,299 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 1.1 %

OCFC opened at $15.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.29 and a 200 day moving average of $15.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $12.01 and a 12 month high of $19.58. The firm has a market cap of $919.74 million, a P/E ratio of 9.04 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Monday, May 6th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.78%.

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.