OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Short Interest Down 34.8% in June

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,296,318 shares, a decrease of 34.8% from the May 31st total of 5,054,943 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,305,458 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 6.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $19.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial has a fifty-two week low of $16.09 and a fifty-two week high of $20.61.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $103.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.25 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 10.04% and a return on equity of 5.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 27th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCFC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,526 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 6,998 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $155,000. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $184,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 10,285 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $186,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $19.00 price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.00.

About OceanFirst Financial

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.