Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $33.78 and last traded at $33.63, with a volume of 5923 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DCOM has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of 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 increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $28.49 and its 200 day moving average is $23.50.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $171.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.58% and a net margin of 9.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 9.4% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,397 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 332,960 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,589,000 after purchasing an additional 34,615 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,108 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,505,000 after purchasing an additional 162,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,276 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,534,000 after purchasing an additional 7,276 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.