Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 256,466 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,739,614 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 256,466 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $84,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,611 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 5,052 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 36,076 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 860,009 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $24,773,000 after buying an additional 9,978 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 10.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 52,499 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 5,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Dime Community Bancshares stock opened at $25.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.85. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.49 and a 12-month high of $37.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.44 and a beta of 0.96.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 169.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DCOM. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $306,228.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,158,986.40. The trade was a 20.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 1,729 shares of company stock worth $48,021. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

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.