Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 16,443 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 11.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,543 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 16,443 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $3,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 350,807 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $10,465,000 after purchasing an additional 47,338 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $541,000. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 3.6% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,630 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 44.0% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,346 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 3,468 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 2.2% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 20,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were bought 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 owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,156,989.08. This trade represents a 2.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 0.4%

Dime Community Bancshares stock opened at $34.02 on Friday. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $23.25 and a one year high of $34.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.74 and a 200 day moving average of $29.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.14 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 9.12%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 42.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Dime Community Bank, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial customers. With a network of branches spanning the New York metropolitan area and South Florida, Dime Community Bancshares emphasizes relationship banking and local decision-making.

The company’s core lending activities include commercial and multifamily real estate loans, construction and land development financing, and one-to-four-family residential mortgage lending.