OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Trading Down 5.8% – Here’s Why

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) shares traded down 5.8% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $17.97 and last traded at $17.99. 156,847 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 308,028 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Hovde Group boosted their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $17.61 and its 200 day moving average is $16.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $170.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.93 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.85% and a net margin of 14.78%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,475,107 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,027,000 after purchasing an additional 105,764 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,391,127 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 42,966 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,046,061 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $18,160,000 after acquiring an additional 66,868 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after acquiring an additional 164,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,828,000 after acquiring an additional 158,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.