Hovde Group Cuts OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Price Target to $22.00

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its price objective lowered by Hovde Group from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Hovde Group currently has an outperform rating on the savings and loans company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $18.26 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $14.03 and a fifty-two week high of $21.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.33.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. Analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 71,504 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after buying an additional 494 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,815 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.