Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.12, but opened at $24.47. Dime Community Bancshares shares last traded at $24.79, with a volume of 13,988 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DCOM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.88.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.64 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.62 and a 200-day moving average of $30.62.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. The firm had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $105.83 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a $0.3438 dividend. This is a boost from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.35%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 158.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $306,228.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 1,729 shares of company stock valued at $48,021 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 22,391 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $624,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares during the last quarter. Salzhauer Michael lifted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 17.0% in the first quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 72,367 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,018,000 after purchasing an additional 10,533 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 314.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,023 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 12,156 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,073,000. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.