Why OceanFirst Financial (OCFC) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio
Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
OceanFirst Financial in Focus
OceanFirst Financial (OCFC) is headquartered in Red Bank, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 11.01% since the start of the year. The holding company for OceanFirst Bank is currently shelling out a dividend of $0.2 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.39%. This compares to the Financial - Savings and Loan industry's yield of 2.78% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.6%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $0.80 is up 8.1% from last year. In the past five-year period, OceanFirst Financial has increased its dividend 2 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 3.75%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. OceanFirst's current payout ratio is 34%, meaning it paid out 34% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
OCFC is expecting earnings to expand this fiscal year as well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $2.70 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 15.38%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.
Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, OCFC presents a compelling investment opportunity; it's not only an attractive dividend play, but the stock also boasts a strong Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
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OceanFirst Financial Corp. (OCFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
