Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM Shares Sold by Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,814 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 23,065 shares during the quarter. Dime Community Bancshares makes up 2.3% of Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. owned approximately 0.21% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $2,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DCOM. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,357,255 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $65,721,000 after purchasing an additional 340,046 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,592,656 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,403,000 after buying an additional 321,353 shares during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter worth $6,302,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 44.2% in the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 472,415 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,205,000 after acquiring an additional 144,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,129,067 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $30,417,000 after acquiring an additional 131,087 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $57,838.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $893,465.65. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction of $539,301.62. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,156,989.08. This trade represents a 2.03% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 14,200 shares of company stock worth $414,948 in the last quarter. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of DCOM stock opened at $29.66 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.25 and a 1-year high of $36.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02 and a beta of 1.12.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $116.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.75 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Investors of record on Friday, October 17th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on DCOM. Zacks Research cut Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.13.

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.