Banc Funds Co. LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

Banc Funds Co. LLC reduced its holdings in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,073 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 60,188 shares during the quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $2,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in 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. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $9,967,000 after purchasing an additional 123,800 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 77,284 shares during the period. Finally, Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 298,345 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,086,000 after purchasing an additional 54,193 shares during the last quarter. 75.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.00 per share, with a total value of $928,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,044,221 shares in the company, valued at $33,415,072. The trade was a 2.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.10% of the company’s stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ DCOM opened at $35.88 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.29 and a 12-month high of $37.60. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92 and a beta of 0.99.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $171.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Dime Community Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on DCOM. Raymond James upped their price objective on Dime Community Bancshares from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 21st. Finally, Stephens raised Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.40.

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.