GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 3,078.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,596 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 106,148 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.25% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $3,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DCOM. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 125.0% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 861.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased 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 purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total value of $51,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,392 shares in the company, valued at $905,327.36. The trade was a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DCOM. Stephens decreased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.88.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 177,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,757. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.49 and a 52 week high of $37.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 46.32 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This is a positive change from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.03%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.