Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts assign Dime Community Bancshares a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from six brokers (2 hold, 3 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price objective of $38.00.
• The company beat earnings estimates last quarter (EPS $0.79 vs. $0.70 est., revenue $123.85M vs. $118.14M) and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 (annual $1.00, yield ~2.8%).
• Insiders sold 52,865 shares (about $1.83M) in the past 90 days—including CEO Stuart Lubow and a director—while institutional investors own roughly 75.27% of the stock.

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

Several analysts have weighed in on DCOM shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $685,618.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 202,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,106,865.36. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 20,339 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.96, for a total transaction of $690,712.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,013,819 shares in the company, valued at $34,429,293.24. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 52,865 shares of company stock worth $1,829,983 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 23,143 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 132.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 169,503 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $4,726,000 after buying an additional 96,523 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 23,621 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $659,000 after buying an additional 3,443 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 5.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 324,976 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $9,060,000 after buying an additional 18,195 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 5.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 82,084 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,289,000 after buying an additional 4,231 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Dime Community Bancshares stock opened at $36.08 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.09. Dime Community Bancshares has a twelve month low of $23.86 and a twelve month high of $36.86.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $123.85 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.14 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 9.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 42.37%.

About Dime Community Bancshares

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Dime Community Bank, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial customers. With a network of branches spanning the New York metropolitan area and South Florida, Dime Community Bancshares emphasizes relationship banking and local decision-making.

The company's core lending activities include commercial and multifamily real estate loans, construction and land development financing, and one-to-four-family residential mortgage lending.

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