Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.40.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DCOM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of DCOM opened at $29.41 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 49.85 and a beta of 1.04. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $17.29 and a 52-week high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. Equities research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is 169.49%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 1,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.23 per share, with a total value of $32,572.89. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,572.89. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total transaction of $71,520.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,155 shares in the company, valued at $720,742.80. This represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,815 shares of company stock valued at $471,498. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $39,073,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $10,068,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 86.3% during the 4th quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 620,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,060,000 after acquiring an additional 287,195 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 480,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,851,000 after acquiring an additional 263,225 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,739,614 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $84,202,000 after acquiring an additional 256,466 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.