Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Announces $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 28th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the savings and loans company on Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th.

Dime Community Bancshares has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 13.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Dime Community Bancshares has a payout ratio of 35.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Dime Community Bancshares to earn $2.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.7%.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DCOM opened at $18.51 on Monday. Dime Community Bancshares has a 1-year low of $15.57 and a 1-year high of $27.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $719.67 million, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $18.76 and its 200-day moving average is $21.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The savings and loans company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.09). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 14.89%. The firm had revenue of $167.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DCOM shares. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $30.00 to $25.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L acquired 27,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.00 per share, for a total transaction of $622,564.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,015,221 shares in the company, valued at $23,350,083. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 451.9% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,286 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,848 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 1,225.8% in the first quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,750 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 298.0% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,111 shares in the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.