Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 39,690 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 328,108 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 39,690 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $8,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $97,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $235,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 53.4% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,671 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 3,366 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 7.8% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 46.0% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,988 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,775 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $57,838.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $893,465.65. This represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 20,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction of $539,301.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,200 shares of company stock worth $414,948. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $28.36 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.87 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.21. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.25 and a fifty-two week high of $37.13.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.06). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company had revenue of $116.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DCOM shares. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.13.

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.