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

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the savings and loans company on Friday, April 24th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th.

Dime Community Bancshares has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Dime Community Bancshares has a payout ratio of 26.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of DCOM stock opened at $33.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 1.09. Dime Community Bancshares has a 1 year low of $23.25 and a 1 year high of $36.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.74.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $123.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.14 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 15.15%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.83, for a total value of $261,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,006,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,050,090.77. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $685,618.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 202,648 shares in the company, valued at $7,106,865.36. This trade represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 52,865 shares of company stock valued at $1,829,983. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 40,939.1% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 37,756 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 37,664 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 177,354 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,337,000 after acquiring an additional 5,399 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,263,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $128,281,000 after purchasing an additional 857,001 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $898,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently 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.