Raymond James Upgrades OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) to Strong-Buy

Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) from a moderate buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on OCFC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $17.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $19.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.04. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. The business had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.79 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OCFC. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

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.