Hovde Group Lowers OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Price Target to $22.00

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Hovde Group from $23.00 to $22.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the savings and loans company’s stock. Hovde Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.96% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on OCFC. Piper Sandler set a $17.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Raymond James upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on OceanFirst Financial from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.83.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of OCFC stock opened at $18.81 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.06. OceanFirst Financial has a 12-month low of $14.03 and a 12-month high of $21.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.31.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 6.08% and a net margin of 15.28%. Analysts expect that OceanFirst Financial will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at OceanFirst Financial

In related 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 transaction of $30,045.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. This trade represents a 0.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 71,504 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in OceanFirst Financial by 5.9% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 17,815 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 8.5% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 14,564 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1,036.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,466 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the period. 70.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.