Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $34.93 and last traded at $34.93, with a volume of 29658 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dime Community Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Dime Community Bancshares from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.33.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.51.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The savings and loans company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $123.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.14 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.12% and a net margin of 15.15%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 16th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 42.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 20,537 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.26 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DCOM. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 2.2% during the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,630 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 29,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,125 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dime Community Bancshares Company Profile

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Dime Community Bank, headquartered in Hauppauge, New York. Through its subsidiary, the company offers a comprehensive suite of banking and financial services to both individual and commercial customers. With a network of branches spanning the New York metropolitan area and South Florida, Dime Community Bancshares emphasizes relationship banking and local decision-making.

The company’s core lending activities include commercial and multifamily real estate loans, construction and land development financing, and one-to-four-family residential mortgage lending.