Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Short Interest Down 8.9% in January

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,160,000 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the January 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 354,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total value of $71,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,742.80. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $306,228.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DCOM. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $243,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $235,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 31.2% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,305 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,276 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after buying an additional 7,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,505,000 after buying an additional 162,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DCOM. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 1.1 %

DCOM traded up $0.36 on Tuesday, hitting $31.70. 199,524 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 315,730. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.76 and its 200-day moving average is $29.95. The company has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 53.73 and a beta of 1.05. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12 month low of $17.29 and a 12 month high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. Equities research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 169.49%.

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.