Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 35,312 Shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 50.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,669 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 35,312 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.06% of OceanFirst Financial worth $644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 0.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 137,196 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,180,000 after buying an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in OceanFirst Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,023 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 2.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 52,372 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the third quarter worth $25,000. 70.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph M. Jr. Murphy sold 1,500 shares of OceanFirst Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total value of $30,045.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 177,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,553,662.51. The trade was a 0.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

OceanFirst Financial Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $20.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $13.41 and a 1-year high of $21.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.39 and a 200 day moving average of $16.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.01.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $96.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.79 million. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 6.08%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 4th. OceanFirst Financial’s payout ratio is 45.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on OCFC. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of OceanFirst Financial from $19.50 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

OceanFirst Financial Profile

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.