Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $36.98 and last traded at $36.4410, with a volume of 101 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $36.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DCOM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 1.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.84 and its 200 day moving average is $31.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 42.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,500 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.83, for a total value of $261,225.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,006,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,050,090.77. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total transaction of $685,618.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,865 shares of company stock worth $1,829,983 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,263,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $128,281,000 after buying an additional 857,001 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $13,321,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 432,464 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,900,000 after purchasing an additional 212,934 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 271.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 266,005 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,935,000 after purchasing an additional 194,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 599,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $18,027,000 after purchasing an additional 99,011 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

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.