OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01, Zacks reports. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 5.35%.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $19.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.71. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.09 and a fifty-two week high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 68.38%.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 20,600 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 2,067 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $368,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $295,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $281,000. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.