Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Stock Price

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $42.00 to $41.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the savings and loans company's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday. Raymond James raised their price objective 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. Finally, Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DCOM traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 439,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,985. The business's fifty day moving average is $33.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.89. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48 and a beta of 1.05. Dime Community Bancshares has a 1 year low of $17.29 and a 1 year high of $37.60. 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 results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. Analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 20,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $720,742.80. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 2.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 480,944 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,851,000 after purchasing an additional 263,225 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% during the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $14,505,000 after buying an additional 162,004 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $31,416,000 after acquiring an additional 143,402 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 242,027 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $6,970,000 after acquiring an additional 39,190 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 36,076 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company's stock.

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.