Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Short Interest Update

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,160,000 shares, an increase of 5.9% from the November 15th total of 2,040,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 263,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of DCOM stock opened at $34.33 on Monday. Dime Community Bancshares has a twelve month low of $17.29 and a twelve month high of $37.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $171.87 million during 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 posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 20,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,742.80. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.00 per share, for a total transaction of $928,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,415,072. The trade was a 2.86 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 860,009 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $24,773,000 after buying an additional 9,978 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 36,076 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $31,416,000 after purchasing an additional 143,402 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 480,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,851,000 after purchasing an additional 263,225 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,611 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,052 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.20.

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.