StockNews.com Upgrades Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) to “Hold”

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Separately, Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 20th.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 9.2 %

DCOM stock opened at $21.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $822.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $19.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.52. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12 month low of $15.57 and a 12 month high of $36.51.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $165.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 12.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 50,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.64 per share, with a total value of $1,045,168.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,037,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,419,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 50,638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.64 per share, with a total value of $1,045,168.32. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,037,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,419,077.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Christopher J. Porzelt sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total value of $97,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,699.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 15.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the first quarter valued at $16,537,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 4.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,529,621 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $97,487,000 after purchasing an additional 245,984 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,506,989 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,568,000 after purchasing an additional 199,889 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 59.5% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 363,540 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,568,000 after acquiring an additional 135,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 457.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 150,157 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 123,242 shares in the last quarter. 72.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that provides various commercial banking and financial services. It accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. The company also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; home equity loans; and construction and land loans.