Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.21, but opened at $28.50. Dime Community Bancshares shares last traded at $29.21, with a volume of 10,436 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DCOM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $25.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $26.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.45.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 9.98% and a return on equity of 6.58%. The firm had revenue of $171.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 56.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dime Community Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DCOM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,479,855 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $47,762,000 after purchasing an additional 19,999 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,173,003 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,328,000 after acquiring an additional 13,650 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in 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 valued at $13,334,000 after acquiring an additional 31,853 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 13.9% in 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 last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 33.9% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 488,554 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,967,000 after purchasing an additional 123,800 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.