Royce & Associates LP Buys 162,004 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 47.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 162,004 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned about 1.29% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $14,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of DCOM opened at $33.70 on Friday. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.29 and a 1-year high of $35.21. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47 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. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.16.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $171.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.58% and a net margin of 9.65%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 29,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.50.

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.