Invesco Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 61.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 310,942 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 118,351 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.79% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $9,557,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings 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 valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,697 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $209,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $306,228.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,287,031.25. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 1,729 shares of company stock worth $48,021 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.55. 8,010 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 261,733. The company's 50-day moving average is $27.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.12 and a beta of 0.96. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.49 and a 1 year high of $37.60.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This represents a $1.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.38%. This is an increase from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DCOM shares. Stephens dropped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus 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.