OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,296,318 shares, a decline of 34.8% from the May 31st total of 5,054,943 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,305,458 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 34,193 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 1,461 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 5.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,481 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after buying an additional 7,359 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 142,122 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after acquiring an additional 11,262 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 107.0% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 88,353 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 45,673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 15.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 24,450 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $19.05 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.61 and its 200-day moving average is $18.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial has a 52 week low of $16.09 and a 52 week high of $20.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 0.98.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.35% and a net margin of 10.04%.The firm had revenue of $103.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.25 million. Equities research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 68.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OCFC. Weiss Ratings raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.