Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $471,000 Investment in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 17,500 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $118,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the third quarter worth $132,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $263,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 13,799 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $275,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

DCOM stock opened at $18.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $15.57 and a 1 year high of $27.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.60 and a 200 day moving average of $21.02. The company has a market cap of $728.96 million, a P/E ratio of 10.53 and a beta of 1.02.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm had revenue of $167.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DCOM shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Raymond James lowered their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $25.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 27,068 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.00 per share, with a total value of $622,564.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,015,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,350,083. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.30% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

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