Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $37.75 and last traded at $37.5710, with a volume of 7937 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on DCOM. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.75.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $685,618.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 202,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,106,865.36. This represents a 8.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DCOM. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 25.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,263,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $128,281,000 after buying an additional 857,001 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,321,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 97.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 432,464 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,900,000 after buying an additional 212,934 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 271.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 266,005 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,935,000 after buying an additional 194,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 599,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $18,027,000 after buying an additional 99,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Dime Community Bank, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial customers. With a network of branches spanning the New York metropolitan area and South Florida, Dime Community Bancshares emphasizes relationship banking and local decision-making.

The company’s core lending activities include commercial and multifamily real estate loans, construction and land development financing, and one-to-four-family residential mortgage lending.