Ieq Capital LLC Invests $1.85 Million in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 94,927 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 7.0% during the second quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 9,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in OceanFirst Financial by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 49,065 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its position 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 during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 29,567 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,548 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 885 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on OCFC shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Down 0.4%

OceanFirst Financial stock opened at $18.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.19 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $17.05 and a fifty-two week high of $20.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.81.

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 firm had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.62 million. Analysts predict that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 94.12%.

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.