<div id="readability-page-1"><p><span>OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report)</span> was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a &#34;sell&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a report released on Wednesday.</p><div><p><span></span><span>Get <strong>OceanFirst Financial</strong> alerts:</span></p></div><p>Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette &amp; Woods upgraded OceanFirst Financial from a &#34;market perform&#34; rating to an &#34;outperform&#34; rating and upped their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. DA Davidson lowered OceanFirst Financial from a &#34;strong-buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a &#34;strong-buy&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a &#34;strong sell&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings  reissued a &#34;hold (c)&#34; rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst  has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued  a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, OceanFirst Financial presently has an average rating of &#34;Hold&#34; and an average target price of $21.33.</p><p><b>Check Out Our Latest Report on OCFC</b></p><h2>OceanFirst Financial Price Performance</h2><p>OCFC stock opened at $18.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $18.86 and a 200 day moving average of $18.25. OceanFirst Financial has a twelve month low of $14.29 and a twelve month high of $20.61. </p><p>OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.33%.The business had revenue of $104.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.20 million.  On average, research analysts forecast that  OceanFirst Financial will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year. </p><h2>Hedge Funds Weigh In On OceanFirst Financial</h2><p>Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of  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 valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period.  EMC Capital Management grew its holdings in  OceanFirst Financial by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,952 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter.  Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in  OceanFirst Financial by 7.7% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,343 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares in the last quarter.  The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in  OceanFirst Financial by 4.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 20,548 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the period.  Finally, Strs Ohio increased its position in  OceanFirst Financial by 2.9% during the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,700 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own  70.98% of the company's stock. </p><h2>About OceanFirst Financial</h2> (Get Free Report)<p>OceanFirst Financial Corporation <span>NASDAQ: OCFC<span></span></span> 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.  </p><p>The company's core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.</p><h2>Recommended Stories</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than OceanFirst Financial</li><li>America's Next Power Move Starts Underground</li><li>Your Signature Is Missing – Act Before It’s Too Late</li><li>NEW LAW: Congress Approves Setup For Digital Dollar?</li><li>URGENT: Trump Just Triggered AI’s Biggest Disruption Yet</li><li>Buy This Stock at 9:30 AM on MONDAY!</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/RatingsChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9T0NGQw?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="600" height="385" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/RatingsChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9T0NGQw"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in OceanFirst Financial Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider OceanFirst Financial, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and OceanFirst Financial wasn't on the list.</p><p>While OceanFirst Financial currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

OCFC

<p>Wall Street Zen upgraded OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) from a "sell" to a "hold" rating. Other analysts have also made adjustments, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising their rating to "outperform" and increasing the price target from $20.00 to $22.00. Currently, OceanFirst has an average rating of "Hold" and a target price of $21.33. The stock opened at $18.35, with a market cap of $1.05 billion and a PE ratio of 15.82. Institutional investors own 70.98% of the company.</p>

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen