Polaris Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Polaris Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 397,680 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the period. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $12,223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,397 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in the fourth 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. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 50.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,697 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,305 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 22,324 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DCOM. Stephens upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ DCOM opened at $32.65 on Tuesday. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.29 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.34 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.67.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 4.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 169.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total value of $71,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,742.80. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 1,043 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $31.23 per share, with a total value of $32,572.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,572.89. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Company 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.