OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) saw strong trading volume on Tuesday . 435,807 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 34% from the previous session’s volume of 324,645 shares.The stock last traded at $18.33 and had previously closed at $19.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCFC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.60.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.19 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 14th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $93.08 million during the quarter. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 5.02%. On average, analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.02%.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $295,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.8% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 475,737 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $8,359,000 after purchasing an additional 13,132 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter worth $368,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 96,384 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,693,000 after buying an additional 7,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 34,829 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 8,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.