Short Interest in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) Declines By 8.5%

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the October 15th total of 2,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 199,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L purchased 29,000 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.00 per share, for a total transaction of $928,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,044,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,415,072. This trade represents a 2.86 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 9,978 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% during the 3rd 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. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $31,416,000 after buying an additional 143,402 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 480,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,851,000 after acquiring an additional 263,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 316,611 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,118,000 after acquiring an additional 5,052 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dime Community Bancshares Trading Up 4.7 %

NASDAQ DCOM traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $35.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 433,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,254. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.20. Dime Community Bancshares has a 52 week low of $17.29 and a 52 week high of $36.05.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. The business had revenue of $171.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DCOM shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. Piper Sandler downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stephens upgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dime Community Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.40.

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.