Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Grows Holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 30.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,017 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,478 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.14% of OceanFirst Financial worth $1,503,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in OCFC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 911.7% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,542 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $191,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 85.3% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 43,078 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 19,827 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 44,371 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the fourth quarter worth $446,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1,009.6% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 5,048 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $17.07 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $17.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $999.57 million, a PE ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.03. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1 year low of $14.03 and a 1 year high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, January 24th. Hovde Group dropped their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James raised OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial 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.