Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $123.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $30.12 on Wednesday. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $23.25 and a 52-week high of $34.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 87.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction of $539,301.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,034,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $57,838.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at $893,465.65. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 4,695 shares of company stock valued at $125,809 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 742.9% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 884 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $169,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 326.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,808 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 4,446 shares in the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 7,767 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DCOM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Stephens set a $33.00 target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

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.