Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $33.78 and last traded at $33.63, with a volume of 5923 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DCOM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $23.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James upped 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $86.65 million. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 5.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 66.67%.

Institutional Trading of Dime Community Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DCOM. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 205,409 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,956,000 after purchasing an additional 48,619 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 693,457 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $13,334,000 after buying an additional 31,853 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 21.3% in the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 364,754 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,025,000 after acquiring an additional 64,100 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 12.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 211,604 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,317,000 after acquiring an additional 24,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 13.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 635,265 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $12,959,000 after acquiring an additional 77,284 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

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.