Sovran Advisors LLC Takes $1.07 Million Position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 34,217 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,000. Sovran Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Dime Community Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.6% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,630 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.3% in the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 25,961 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $699,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DCOM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $685,618.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 202,648 shares in the company, valued at $7,106,865.36. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 20,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total value of $690,712.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,013,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,429,293.24. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 52,865 shares of company stock worth $1,829,983 over the last quarter. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of DCOM stock opened at $34.22 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $33.64 and its 200-day moving average is $30.89. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.05. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.25 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

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

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.