OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $21.76 and last traded at $21.76, with a volume of 11297 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OCFC has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group raised their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.75.

OceanFirst Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $96.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.79 million. Research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 45.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 82.3% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,055 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

About OceanFirst Financial

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.