Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $37.19 and last traded at $37.00, with a volume of 14464 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $30.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.12). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. The business had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 29,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,415,072. This trade represents a 2.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 860,009 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,773,000 after acquiring an additional 9,978 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 36,076 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $31,416,000 after purchasing an additional 143,402 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 480,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,851,000 after buying an additional 263,225 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,611 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,118,000 after buying an additional 5,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

About Dime Community Bancshares

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.