Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $30.06 and traded as high as $35.53. Dime Community Bancshares shares last traded at $35.24, with a volume of 204,470 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on DCOM. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens boosted their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.21 and a 200-day moving average of $30.06. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 9.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.37%.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,500 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.83, for a total value of $261,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,006,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,050,090.77. This trade represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 28,334 shares of company stock worth $966,688 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DCOM. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 2.2% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.6% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,630 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,125 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.