Kennedy Capital Management LLC Buys 60,102 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 213,206 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,102 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.54% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $6,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in 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 valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of 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 position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $92,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position 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 valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on DCOM shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.50.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 1,043 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.23 per share, with a total value of $32,572.89. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,572.89. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 1,729 shares of company stock worth $48,021 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of DCOM traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $25.34. 111,242 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 259,484. The company has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.98 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.49 and a 52-week high of $37.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.72.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 4.50%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 169.49%.

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.