Azora Capital LP Invests $980,000 in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Azora Capital LP bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 31,874 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $980,000. Azora Capital LP owned 0.08% of Dime Community Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 861.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,782 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,697 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $306,228.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,158,986.40. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,031.25. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens decreased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.88.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.66. 147,982 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 263,940. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19 and a beta of 1.09. The company's 50-day moving average is $26.67 and its 200-day moving average is $30.37. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.49 and a 52-week high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.02. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 4.50%. The firm had revenue of $103.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.83 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This is a boost from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 158.73%.

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.