Savant Capital LLC Purchases 3,775 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. $DCOM

Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 46.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,988 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Dime Community Bancshares were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 250.1% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,035 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 4,311 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares during the first quarter valued at about $488,000. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 435,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,150,000 after buying an additional 6,892 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 19.1% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 78,738 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after buying an additional 12,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 11.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,860 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 1,220 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 20,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.26 per share, with a total value of $539,301.62. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,034,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,156,989.08. The trade was a 2.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 2,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.29, for a total value of $57,838.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 33,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $893,465.65. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 14,200 shares of company stock worth $414,948 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.13.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 5.0%

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock opened at $25.78 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.25 and a 12-month high of $37.60. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.17.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.06). Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 8.72%.The company had revenue of $116.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $112.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.29 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 87.72%.

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.