OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $17.04 and last traded at $17.0150, with a volume of 1020459 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler reiterated 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, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.50.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 2.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.74.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.43. The business had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.62 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. On average, analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.8 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.12%.

Insider Activity at OceanFirst Financial

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total value of $104,005.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 83,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,570,815.88. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at $81,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,674 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,786,000 after buying an additional 27,056 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 32,994 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 2,885 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 42.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,498 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 6,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corp. is the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey. OceanFirst Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and nonprofit organizations through its branch network and digital banking platforms.

The bank’s products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, home equity loans, consumer lending, commercial real estate financing, business loans and lines of credit.