Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 3,752 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 5.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 74,108 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $2,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DCOM. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth $56,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 30.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,936 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 496.9% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,805 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $235,000. 75.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.00 per share, for a total transaction of $928,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,415,072. The trade was a 2.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $34.69 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $17.29 and a one year high of $36.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20 and a beta of 0.99.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $171.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on DCOM shares. 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 note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Stephens upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.40.

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.