Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Buys 30,202 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,064,565 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 30,202 shares during the quarter. Dime Community Bancshares accounts for about 3.7% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 5.27% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $63,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 861.9% in 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 during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,782 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in 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 acquired a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 0.4 %

Dime Community Bancshares stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $26.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 166,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 263,441. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.49 and a 1 year high of $37.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 44.25 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's fifty day moving average is $26.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.42.

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

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.27%. This is a boost from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.73%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $306,228.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,986.40. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.