Northern Trust Corp Purchases 69,856 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 428,321 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,856 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.09% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $13,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 58.0% in 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 last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,386 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,697 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,395 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,258 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of DCOM stock traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $26.77. 167,423 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 267,297. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.49 and a 12-month high of $37.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $26.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.37 and a beta of 1.09.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $105.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th were given a $0.3438 dividend. This represents a $1.38 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.14%. This is a boost from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 158.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $36.88.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the business'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 transaction of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,031.25. The trade was a 6.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.