Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) is Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s 2nd Largest Position

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,064,565 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,202 shares during the period. Dime Community Bancshares makes up 3.7% of Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 5.27% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $63,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in 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. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 654 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 8,386 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in 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 worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,395 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $306,228.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,158,986.40. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $26.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.17 and a beta of 1.09. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.49 and a 12-month high of $37.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.83 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 4.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.16%. This is a boost from Dime Community Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 158.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DCOM shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on 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 reduced their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.88.

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.