Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 18.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,340 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 87,860 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned 1.00% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $11,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $101,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of DCOM traded up $0.76 on Wednesday, reaching $36.59. 199,523 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 236,073. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.62. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.29 and a 52-week high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 5.58% and a net margin of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $86.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was purchased at an average price of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,044,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,415,072. This trade represents a 2.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on DCOM shares. Stephens upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James increased their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Dime Community Bancshares from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.20.

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.