CenterBook Partners LP Invests $516,000 in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,298 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 2.3% during the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,228,999 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $33,109,000 after acquiring an additional 27,463 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 978,630 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $26,367,000 after purchasing an additional 4,827 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 350,807 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $10,465,000 after purchasing an additional 47,338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 5.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 324,976 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,060,000 after purchasing an additional 18,195 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on DCOM. DA Davidson raised their target price 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. 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. Stephens upped their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $35,050,090.77. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $685,618.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 202,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,106,865.36. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,360 shares of company stock worth $1,844,734. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ DCOM opened at $34.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a PE ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.52 and a 200-day moving average of $30.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.37%.

Dime Community Bancshares 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.