Vanguard Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,369,281 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 11,156 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.10% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $47,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DCOM. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 369,130 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,368,000 after buying an additional 46,033 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 21.0% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,777 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $316,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $321,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 96,324 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 10,024 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $18.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.07. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $15.57 and a fifty-two week high of $27.91. The firm has a market cap of $728.06 million, a PE ratio of 8.19 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $19.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.14.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 14.89% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $167.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.33%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 43.67%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 27,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.00 per share, for a total transaction of $622,564.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,015,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,350,083. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 15.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DCOM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $25.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.88.

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.