Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $28.92 and traded as high as $30.50. Dime Community Bancshares shares last traded at $30.09, with a volume of 142,094 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Stephens set a $33.00 price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson set a $36.00 target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.25.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.93.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $116.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.72%.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.26 per share, with a total value of $539,301.62. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,034,158 shares in the company, valued at $27,156,989.08. This represents a 2.03% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $57,838.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $893,465.65. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 4,695 shares of company stock valued at $125,809 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.6% during 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 last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $133,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

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.