Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Price Target Raised to $49.00

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) had its target price hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $47.00 to $49.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the savings and loans company’s stock.

Separately, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $47.00 price target (up from $45.00) on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

DCOM opened at $42.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $25.63 and a 52-week high of $42.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.02. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The savings and loans company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $135.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.16 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 9.12%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 16th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 1,800 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.73, for a total transaction of $75,114.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 32,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,352,052. The trade was a 5.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,170 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total value of $296,838.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $252,498.60. The trade was a 54.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 134,595 shares of company stock valued at $5,506,229 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DCOM. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 54.5% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the third quarter worth $73,000. Odyssean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter worth $203,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter worth $211,000. 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, a full-service commercial bank serving businesses, individuals and local communities in the New York metropolitan area. The company’s primary markets include Long Island and New York City, with banking offices across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Nassau County and Suffolk County.

Dime Community Bank provides commercial and residential real estate lending, commercial and industrial loans, construction financing, residential mortgages and consumer loans.