Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,160,000 shares, a decline of 8.9% from the January 15th total of 2,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 354,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective 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. Stephens upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $36.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:DCOM traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $31.34. The stock had a trading volume of 168,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 305,058. Dime Community Bancshares has a twelve month low of $17.29 and a twelve month high of $37.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.90. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 53.12 and a beta of 1.05.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 4.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is 169.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total value of $306,228.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total transaction of $71,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $720,742.80. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,397 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 125.0% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 900 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 40,661 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,782 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

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.