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

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,160,000 shares, a growth of 5.9% from the November 15th total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 263,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other 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 transaction of $71,520.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 29,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,044,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,415,072. This represents a 2.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 496.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,805 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $235,000. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

DCOM stock traded up $0.47 on Monday, reaching $34.80. 261,719 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 237,139. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 1.03. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12 month low of $17.29 and a 12 month high of $37.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $32.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.57. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 EPS 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 company had revenue of $171.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is 66.67%.

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.