First Eagle Investment Management LLC Sells 82,958 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

First Eagle Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 260,044 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 82,958 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.59% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $7,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,357,255 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $65,721,000 after acquiring an additional 340,046 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 25.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,592,656 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,403,000 after purchasing an additional 321,353 shares during the period. Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 44.2% in the first quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 472,415 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,205,000 after purchasing an additional 144,856 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $2,928,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 132.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 169,503 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,726,000 after buying an additional 96,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on DCOM shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.13.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $26.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66 and a beta of 1.15. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.25 and a 52 week high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $103.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $112.75 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is 87.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total transaction of $57,838.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $893,465.65. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.26 per share, with a total value of $539,301.62. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 1,034,158 shares in the company, valued at $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 14,200 shares of company stock worth $414,948. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

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.