Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Short Interest Update

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,040,000 shares, a decrease of 21.5% from the October 31st total of 2,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 263,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James raised their target price on Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Dime Community Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.88. 124,855 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 235,844. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52-week low of $17.29 and a 52-week high of $37.60. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.24. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Dime Community Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,479,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $47,762,000 after acquiring an additional 19,999 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,173,003 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $44,328,000 after purchasing an additional 13,650 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $31,416,000 after purchasing an additional 143,402 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 860,009 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $24,773,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 4.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 693,457 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,334,000 after buying an additional 31,853 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.