Raymond James Increases Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Price Target to $36.00

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Raymond James from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a strong-buy rating on the savings and loans company's stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on DCOM. StockNews.com lowered Dime Community Bancshares from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. Piper Sandler lowered 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Dime Community Bancshares stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.60. 83,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 226,308. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Dime Community Bancshares has a 12-month low of $17.29 and a 12-month high of $30.12. The business's 50-day moving average is $25.21 and its 200-day moving average is $21.46.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.58% and a net margin of 9.98%. The business had revenue of $171.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $82.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 56.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing 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. EMC Capital Management grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 42.2% in the first quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 9,861 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,924 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $235,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.