Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. DA Davidson upgraded Dime Community Bancshares to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.17.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $27.84 on Thursday. Dime Community Bancshares has a twelve month low of $23.25 and a twelve month high of $37.60. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.42 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.98 and a 200-day moving average of $27.97.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.06). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 7.81%. The business had revenue of $103.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.92, for a total transaction of $30,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 38,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,180,680.20. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.33, for a total value of $272,970.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,366,012.14. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,125 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 25,961 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 106,105 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.