Savant Capital LLC Makes New $209,000 Investment in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Savant Capital LLC purchased a new position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,797 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in Dime Community Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,305 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,276 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,534,000 after acquiring an additional 7,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 162,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ DCOM opened at $31.45 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 53.31 and a beta of 1.05. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $17.29 and a one year high of $37.60.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 169.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief technology officer now owns 20,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $720,742.80. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 1,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.23 per share, for a total transaction of $32,572.89. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,043 shares in the company, valued at $32,572.89. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.