Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 24.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,837 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,523 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $263,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,102 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $331,000. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of DCOM opened at $19.77 on Friday. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.17 and a 1-year high of $27.91. The stock has a market cap of $770.44 million, a PE ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.01. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 11.46% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $82.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.15 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.65 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DCOM has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.50 target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th.

Dime Community Bancshares 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.