Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.3333.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DCOM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Stephens upped 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, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 20,537 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.26 per share, with a total value of $539,301.62. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,156,989.08. This represents a 2.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $57,838.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $893,465.65. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 32.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,406,229 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $101,608,000 after acquiring an additional 839,183 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,302,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 271.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 266,005 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,935,000 after buying an additional 194,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,129,067 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $30,417,000 after buying an additional 131,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 0.5%

Dime Community Bancshares stock opened at $33.22 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12 month low of $23.25 and a 12 month high of $34.85. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.11.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.37%.

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.