Brokerages Set Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Target Price at $29.50

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.40.

DCOM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stephens upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $34.69 on Monday. Dime Community Bancshares has a 1 year low of $17.29 and a 1 year high of $36.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $32.00 per share, for a total transaction of $928,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,415,072. This trade represents a 2.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dime Community Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 27.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 83,071 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,600,000 after buying an additional 17,645 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 124.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 22,456 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 12,470 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,479,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $47,762,000 after buying an additional 19,999 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $4,702,000. Finally, Caxton Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 87.0% during the 1st quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 22,115 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 10,287 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.