OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $20.00 price target on the savings and loans company’s stock.

OCFC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $18.20.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 1.3 %

OCFC opened at $14.98 on Friday. OceanFirst Financial has a twelve month low of $12.01 and a twelve month high of $19.58. The firm has a market cap of $891.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.34%. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 46.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CRA Financial Services LLC lifted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 25,314 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 42,300 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,434 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 130,733 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. 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.