OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Upgraded at Raymond James

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) was upgraded by research analysts at Raymond James from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

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

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OCFC opened at $17.79 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.69. 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 capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.04. OceanFirst Financial has a 52-week low of $14.03 and a 52-week high of $21.87.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. As a group, analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 177,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OCFC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 587.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,082,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,130,000 after buying an additional 925,283 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 43.7% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 733,441 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,203 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial by 20.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 956,320 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,196,000 after purchasing an additional 164,626 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 807,280 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,828,000 after purchasing an additional 158,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 917,085 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,049,000 after purchasing an additional 89,099 shares during the period. 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.