Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $4.85 Million Position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 157,794 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $4,850,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.40% of Dime Community Bancshares as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,782 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,697 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of Dime Community Bancshares 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 37,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. This trade represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $93,750.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 1,729 shares of company stock worth $48,021 in the last quarter. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DCOM. StockNews.com upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens dropped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $36.88.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 1.5 %

DCOM stock opened at $25.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $27.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.60. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.49 and a 1-year high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $103.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.38 EPS. Analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This is an increase 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 5.37%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 158.73%.

Dime Community Bancshares 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.

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