Stephens Upgrades Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) to "Overweight"

Stephens upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stephens currently has $39.00 price target on the savings and loans company's stock, up from their prior price target of $30.00.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler cut Dime Community Bancshares from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Dime Community Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of DCOM traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $35.29. The stock had a trading volume of 433,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,254. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.99. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52 week low of $17.29 and a 52 week high of $36.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.47 and a 200 day moving average of $24.20.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. The business had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $86.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 29,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,415,072. The trade was a 2.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,479,855 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $47,762,000 after purchasing an additional 19,999 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,650 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 143,402 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 9,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 693,457 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $13,334,000 after acquiring an additional 31,853 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dime Community Bancshares Company 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.