Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $30.12, but opened at $31.92. Dime Community Bancshares shares last traded at $33.8950, with a volume of 86,496 shares.

The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 87.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DCOM. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. DA Davidson set a $36.00 target price on Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Friday, December 5th. 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. Finally, Stephens set a $33.00 price objective on Dime Community Bancshares and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $35.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 20,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction of $539,301.62. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $57,838.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $893,465.65. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 4,695 shares of company stock worth $125,809 in the last quarter. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 32.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,406,229 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $101,608,000 after purchasing an additional 839,183 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,228,999 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $33,109,000 after buying an additional 27,463 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 1,129,067 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $30,417,000 after acquiring an additional 131,087 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 978,630 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $26,367,000 after acquiring an additional 4,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 20.3% in the third quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 584,810 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,487,000 after acquiring an additional 98,736 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 13.8%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.67 and a 200 day moving average of $29.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.92 and a beta of 1.11.

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.