First Eagle Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 493,022 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 45,532 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned about 1.26% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $15,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. increased its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 86.3% during the fourth quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 620,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,060,000 after acquiring an additional 287,195 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 120.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 263,225 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 433.6% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 277,168 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $8,519,000 after purchasing an additional 225,227 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 47.4% in the third quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 503,653 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,505,000 after purchasing an additional 162,004 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,850,000. 75.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DCOM. Stephens upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $30.00 to $39.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.50.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of DCOM opened at $28.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $30.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.46 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.49 and a fifty-two week high of $37.60.

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%. Research analysts predict that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 169.49%.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 1,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.23 per share, with a total value of $32,572.89. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,572.89. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total transaction of $93,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,729 shares of company stock valued at $48,021. 9.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.