Barclays PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Barclays PLC grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 91.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,076 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.19% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $2,181,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,173,003 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $44,328,000 after buying an additional 13,650 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 143,402 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 635,265 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $12,959,000 after acquiring an additional 77,284 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $14,505,000 after purchasing an additional 162,004 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 33.9% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 488,554 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $9,967,000 after purchasing an additional 123,800 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total value of $71,520.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 20,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,742.80. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.00 per share, for a total transaction of $928,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,415,072. This represents a 2.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:DCOM traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $31.36. The stock had a trading volume of 181,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 244,436. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.29 and a 1 year high of $37.60. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $33.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.91 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.58% and a net margin of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $171.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

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.