Hovde Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stock Price

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its price target dropped by Hovde Group from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. Hovde Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on OCFC. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James raised OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $18.81 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.31. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. On average, analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of OceanFirst Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 71,504 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,815 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services to retail and commercial customers. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing accounts, and time deposits, that includes brokered deposits to retail, government, and business customers.