Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 20th.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $20.53 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Dime Community Bancshares has a one year low of $15.57 and a one year high of $36.51. The company has a market cap of $796.97 million, a PE ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 1.10.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 19th. The savings and loans company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $165.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 19.42% and a return on equity of 12.14%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 17th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.36%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, insider Christopher J. Porzelt sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total transaction of $97,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,699.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Christopher J. Porzelt sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.68, for a total transaction of $97,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,699.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 50,638 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.64 per share, for a total transaction of $1,045,168.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,037,746 shares in the company, valued at $21,419,077.44. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 15.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dime Community Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 451.9% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,286 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 5,344.4% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,960 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 370.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,961 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 2,331 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.25% of the company’s stock.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that provides various commercial banking and financial services. It accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. The company also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; home equity loans; and construction and land loans.