Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th.

Dime Community Bancshares has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Dime Community Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 26.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Price Performance

Shares of DCOM stock opened at $40.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 0.99. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $25.63 and a 52-week high of $41.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.79. The firm had revenue of $128.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $123.46 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 15.15%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 1,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.73, for a total transaction of $75,114.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,352,052. This trade represents a 5.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total value of $296,838.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $252,498.60. The trade was a 54.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 134,595 shares of company stock worth $5,506,229 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $251,937,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $79,106,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $18,911,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,342,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc is the holding company for Dime Community Bank, a commercial bank serving businesses, homeowners and consumers in the New York metropolitan area. The company is headquartered in Hauppauge, New York, and operates branches primarily across Long Island and in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

Dime Community Bank provides deposit accounts, commercial and residential real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, consumer lending, cash-management services and other banking products.