Basswood Capital Management, L Buys 20,537 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Stock

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction of $539,301.62. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,034,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Basswood Capital Management, L also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, September 9th, Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.33, for a total value of $272,970.00.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $26.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66 and a beta of 1.15. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.25 and a 1-year high of $37.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.10.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $103.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.75 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 7.81%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 87.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 195,530 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,451,000 after purchasing an additional 5,266 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 9.5% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 303,469 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $8,461,000 after buying an additional 26,301 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the first quarter valued at about $37,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 250.1% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,035 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $168,000 after acquiring an additional 4,311 shares during the period. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the first quarter worth about $488,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.