OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Given New $22.00 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its target price upped by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $21.00 to $22.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.95% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.42.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $20.38. 88,566 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 297,392. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.33. OceanFirst Financial has a 12 month low of $14.03 and a 12 month high of $21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $96.90 million for 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, research analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.