Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Upgraded to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $38.00 price objective on the savings and loans company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $36.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.60.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ DCOM opened at $31.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.87. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12 month low of $17.29 and a 12 month high of $37.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Transactions 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 that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total transaction of $71,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 20,155 shares in the company, valued at $720,742.80. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 29,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,415,072. The trade was a 2.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DCOM. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 0.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,173,003 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,328,000 after purchasing an additional 13,650 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,416,000 after buying an additional 143,402 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 860,009 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,773,000 after buying an additional 9,978 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,505,000 after acquiring an additional 162,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 480,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,851,000 after acquiring an additional 263,225 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

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.