Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 35,216 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Brown Advisory Inc. cut its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,013,675 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 35,216 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 2.59% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $31,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,782 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew 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 valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $92,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.66. The stock had a trading volume of 236,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 265,119. The firm has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.19 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.49 and a twelve month high of $37.60.

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

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.3438 dividend. This is a positive change from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.16%. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is currently 158.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Dime Community Bancshares 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.