Short Interest in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Increases By 6.7%

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the April 15th total of 1,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 253,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $118,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $132,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. Institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $19.99 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $18.87 and a 200 day moving average of $21.05. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $16.02 and a 52-week high of $27.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $779.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $82.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.15 million. On average, research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $25.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.