Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC Makes New Investment in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 27,634 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 174.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial in the second quarter valued at about $103,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 458.0% in 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 buying an additional 6,998 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total value of $2,201,182.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $19.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.82. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 12-month low of $17.05 and a 12-month high of $20.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.43. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 5.34%. The company had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.62 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is presently 94.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OCFC has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

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.