Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (DCOM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on April 24th

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, April 24th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th.

Dime Community Bancshares has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Dime Community Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 26.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Dime Community Bancshares to earn $3.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.1%.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 0.4%

DCOM stock opened at $36.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 1.05. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52 week low of $24.41 and a 52 week high of $36.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.09. The firm 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 20,339 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total value of $690,712.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,013,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,429,293.24. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total transaction of $685,618.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 202,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,106,865.36. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,865 shares of company stock valued at $1,829,983. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 40,939.1% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 37,756 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 37,664 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 177,354 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,337,000 after purchasing an additional 5,399 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,263,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $128,281,000 after purchasing an additional 857,001 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $898,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.