Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $1.70 Million in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 55,188 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $1,696,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned approximately 0.13% of Dime Community Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,739,614 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $84,202,000 after purchasing an additional 256,466 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,299,379 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $70,671,000 after purchasing an additional 71,273 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 2,064,565 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $63,454,000 after purchasing an additional 30,202 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,017,209 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $61,999,000 after purchasing an additional 233,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $39,073,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.58, for a total transaction of $51,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,392 shares of the company's stock, valued at $905,327.36. This represents a 5.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock traded up $1.13 on Friday, hitting $26.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 267,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,449. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.49 and a 52-week high of $37.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.68 and a beta of 1.09.

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 the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $103.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.83 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a $0.3438 dividend. This is an increase from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.10%. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 158.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens decreased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.88.

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.