Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. Sells 34,500 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. reduced its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 260,243 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 34,500 shares during the quarter. Dime Community Bancshares comprises about 1.5% of Stieven Capital Advisors L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. owned 0.59% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $7,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 100,814 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,007,000 after buying an additional 7,000 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 10.7% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,615 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $555,000 after buying an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Gator Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 16.9% during the third quarter. Gator Capital Management LLC now owns 109,230 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,258,000 after buying an additional 15,792 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 44.0% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 16,203 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 4,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 32.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,719 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,836 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock opened at $31.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.63. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $23.25 and a one year high of $36.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.09. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 15.15% and a return on equity of 9.12%. The business had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.14 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.37%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.83, for a total transaction of $261,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,006,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,050,090.77. This represents a 0.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stuart H. Lubow sold 19,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.07, for a total value of $685,618.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 202,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,106,865.36. The trade was a 8.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,865 shares of company stock valued at $1,829,983. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on DCOM. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. 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 report on Friday, January 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.