Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.3333.

DCOM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. DA Davidson upped their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $57,838.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at $893,465.65. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.26 per share, with a total value of $539,301.62. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,034,158 shares in the company, valued at $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 742.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $97,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 326.4% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,808 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 4,446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $169,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of DCOM stock opened at $33.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.42. Dime Community Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $23.25 and a fifty-two week high of $34.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.11.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The company had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 42.37%.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Dime Community Bank, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial customers. With a network of branches spanning the New York metropolitan area and South Florida, Dime Community Bancshares emphasizes relationship banking and local decision-making.

The company’s core lending activities include commercial and multifamily real estate loans, construction and land development financing, and one-to-four-family residential mortgage lending.