Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 1,017 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 861.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,135 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $35,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 213,206 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,553,000 after purchasing an additional 60,102 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $4,850,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 107,219 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,295,000 after buying an additional 8,631 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 310,942 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,557,000 after acquiring an additional 118,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 93,814 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 3,988 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of DCOM opened at $26.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.62 and a 200-day moving average of $30.62. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.10 and a beta of 0.96. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.49 and a twelve month high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. The firm had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a $0.3438 dividend. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.28%. This is an increase from Dime Community Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DCOM. Stephens dropped their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 1,043 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.23 per share, with a total value of $32,572.89. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,572.89. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 1,729 shares of company stock valued at $48,021 in the last 90 days. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.