Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $33.78 and last traded at $33.63, with a volume of 5923 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DCOM. Piper Sandler cut shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 14.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $28.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.36.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Dime Community Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the first quarter worth $4,702,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 1,546.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 217,719 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after buying an additional 204,493 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 33.9% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 488,554 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,967,000 after acquiring an additional 123,800 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 635,265 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,959,000 after purchasing an additional 77,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 205,409 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,956,000 after buying an additional 48,619 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

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.