Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Trading Up 7.8%

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) shot up 7.8% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $25.02 and last traded at $25.02. 35,002 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 224,658 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.20.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DCOM. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Dime Community Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.25.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $978.15 million, a PE ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.91.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $171.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.19 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 6.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 56.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DCOM. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 16,102 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $471,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 45,100 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.