Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 5,266 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 195,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,266 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.45% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $5,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,073,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,068,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,739,614 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $84,202,000 after purchasing an additional 256,466 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,017,209 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $61,999,000 after purchasing an additional 233,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 37.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 661,608 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $20,335,000 after purchasing an additional 180,664 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $51,160.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 35,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $905,327.36. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DCOM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.88.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $28.61 on Thursday. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.53 and a 1 year high of $37.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 45.41 and a beta of 1.07.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.83 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 5.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 158.73%.

Dime Community Bancshares 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.