Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 30.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,000 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 0.10% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $1,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 314.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,023 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 12,156 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $39,073,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,318 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,178,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,696,000. Institutional investors own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reduced 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.88.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of DCOM traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $26.11. The company had a trading volume of 172,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,271. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 41.45 and a beta of 1.07. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $18.19 and a one year high of $37.60. The company's fifty day moving average price is $26.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.04.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.02. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The business had revenue of $103.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th were given 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 yield of 5.27%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $905,327.36. This trade represents a 5.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.