Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 164,313 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 114.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 307,356 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 164,313 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $5,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,409,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $61,499,000 after acquiring an additional 179,364 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,407,118 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $61,158,000 after purchasing an additional 9,154 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,265,615 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $58,618,000 after purchasing an additional 877,311 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,976,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,998,148 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $35,867,000 after purchasing an additional 123,691 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ OCFC opened at $19.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 23.38 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.76. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $16.29 and a 52 week high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The company had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.62 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 94.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.50.

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.