State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Takes $1.85 Million Position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new stake in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 60,321 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,854,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.15% of Dime Community Bancshares at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. raised its stake in Dime Community Bancshares by 86.3% during the 4th quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. now owns 620,155 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $19,060,000 after buying an additional 287,195 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted 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 buying an additional 263,225 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 15.1% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,090,834 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,416,000 after buying an additional 143,402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in Dime Community Bancshares by 19.3% during the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 242,027 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,970,000 after buying an additional 39,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.27% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dime Community Bancshares

In other Dime Community Bancshares news, CTO Michael Fegan sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.76, for a total value of $71,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 20,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $720,742.80. The trade was a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Basswood Capital Management, L bought 1,043 shares of Dime Community Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.23 per share, for a total transaction of $32,572.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,572.89. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,815 shares of company stock worth $471,498. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DCOM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised Dime Community Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens raised shares of Dime Community Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $30.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dime Community Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.40.

Dime Community Bancshares Stock Performance

DCOM opened at $30.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.29 and a 1-year high of $37.60. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.97 and a beta of 1.05.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. Equities analysts forecast that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Dime Community Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 169.49%.

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.