Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 30.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 83,017 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 19,478 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $1,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OCFC. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 98.3% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,737 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 3,835 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in OceanFirst Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $192,000. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 12.6% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 25,100 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 4.7% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 41,905 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on OCFC shares. Hovde Group lowered their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Friday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $17.07 on Thursday. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a twelve month low of $14.03 and a twelve month high of $21.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $999.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.45.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.75% and a net margin of 14.45%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.