Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 30,202 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,064,565 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,202 shares during the quarter. Dime Community Bancshares accounts for about 3.7% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned approximately 0.05% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $63,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $480,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 36,076 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 81,602 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 50.1% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 56,472 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after purchasing an additional 18,852 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $4,850,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $26.65 on Friday. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $27.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.48. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.49 and a 52-week high of $37.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.17 and a beta of 1.09.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.83 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 4.50%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. This is an increase from Dime Community Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens dropped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $306,228.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Dime Community Bancshares 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.