OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Share Price Breaks Above 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)’s stock price crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.54 and traded as high as $17.78. OceanFirst Financial shares last traded at $17.68, with a volume of 2,602,906 shares changing hands.

Key Stories Impacting OceanFirst Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting OceanFirst Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. OceanFirst reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.48 per share, above the $0.40 analyst consensus, while revenue of approximately $185.1 million topped the $177.8 million estimate. Adjusted EPS also improved from $0.36 a year earlier. OceanFirst Q3 earnings and revenues top estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying banking trends strengthened. Net interest income rose to $172.1 million from $90.7 million a year earlier, and the net interest margin expanded to 3.18% from 3.05% in the prior quarter and 2.91% a year ago. Deposits increased by $319.3 million sequentially to $18.1 billion, while loans grew $215.7 million, including $325 million of commercial-loan growth. OceanFirst third-quarter financial results
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns remain attractive. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, equal to $0.80 annually and a yield of approximately 4.6% based on the referenced trading price. The dividend is payable November 20 to shareholders of record November 9. OceanFirst declares $0.20 dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Management highlighted integration progress. OceanFirst completed the Flushing acquisition’s core-system conversion and related integration activities in September, a milestone that could support future efficiencies. Investors are likely to focus on management’s earnings-call commentary regarding merger synergies, balance-sheet growth and credit quality. OceanFirst Q3 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP profitability remained pressured by merger costs. Net income available to common stockholders was $16.5 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, down from $17.3 million, or $0.30, a year earlier. Results included $37.1 million in merger-related expenses, while nine-month earnings declined to $0.45 per share from $0.94. OceanFirst reports third-quarter earnings

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on OCFC shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.00.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 6.1%

The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.54 and a 200 day moving average of $18.47.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The savings and loans company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $185.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $177.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 6.38%. On average, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 9th. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 94.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other OceanFirst Financial news, Director John R. Buran sold 113,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.40, for a total transaction of $2,201,182.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Brian Schaeffer sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.91, for a total transaction of $104,005.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,570,815.88. This represents a 6.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in OceanFirst Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $194,135,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,114,069 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $80,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518,636 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,409,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $61,499,000 after acquiring an additional 179,364 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 15.1% during the first quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,383,588 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,960,000 after purchasing an additional 181,557 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $12,593,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) is the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank, a full-service community bank headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey. The company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.

OceanFirst Bank offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, consumer loans, mortgage services, online and mobile banking, and cash-management solutions. Through its wealth-management operations, the company also provides investment management, trust, and financial-planning services.

Founded in 1902, OceanFirst has grown from a savings institution serving the Jersey Shore into a regional banking organization.