Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

DCOM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Stephens set a $33.00 target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.25.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of DCOM opened at $31.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.41 and a beta of 1.12. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12 month low of $23.25 and a 12 month high of $34.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.06). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.The business had revenue of $116.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $112.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $57,838.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $893,465.65. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 20,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.26 per share, with a total value of $539,301.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 4,695 shares of company stock valued at $125,809 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,406,229 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $101,608,000 after purchasing an additional 839,183 shares during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter worth $6,302,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 97.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 432,464 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,900,000 after buying an additional 212,934 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 271.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 266,005 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,935,000 after buying an additional 194,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,129,067 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $30,417,000 after buying an additional 131,087 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.