OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02, Zacks reports. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $19.15. 327,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 305,109. OceanFirst Financial has a one year low of $14.03 and a one year high of $21.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $19.18 and its 200 day moving average is $18.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 1.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on OCFC. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.42.

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.