Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by equities research analysts at Stephens in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $33.00 price objective on the savings and loans company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $30.00. Stephens’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 3.64% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on DCOM. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price objective on Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $31.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93 and a beta of 1.12. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $23.25 and a 52-week high of $34.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $116.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.75 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 7.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 20,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction of $539,301.62. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of Dime Community Bancshares 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 transaction, the director directly owned 33,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $893,465.65. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,695 shares of company stock worth $125,809. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,754,416 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $76,793,000 after buying an additional 14,802 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 395,529 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,027,000 after acquiring an additional 44,696 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $2,928,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 11.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 175,293 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,887,000 after purchasing an additional 17,499 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 435,361 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,138,000 after purchasing an additional 7,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.