OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) Stake Cut by Teton Advisors Inc.

Teton Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,712 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 8,873 shares during the quarter. Teton Advisors Inc.’s holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OCFC. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 24.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,096 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 14.7% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 25,990 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 3,332 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 30.3% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 21,213 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 4,938 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 54.1% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,851 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 11,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 23.0% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 4,917 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. 70.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OCFC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. TheStreet cut OceanFirst Financial from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, OceanFirst Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Anthony Giordano III bought 2,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.75 per share, with a total value of $29,898.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 22,459 shares in the company, valued at $286,352.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OCFC traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $14.20. 519,906 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 319,674. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.50. The company has a market cap of $843.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.98. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 52 week low of $12.01 and a 52 week high of $24.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $101.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.83 million. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 7.55% and a net margin of 20.67%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 3rd. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

OceanFirst Financial Company Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. that provides community banking services. It accepts money market accounts, savings accounts, interest-bearing checking accounts, non-interest-bearing demand deposits, and time deposits to retail, government, and business customers.