Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (DCOM): Insiders Are Dumping, Should You?: Meridian Interstate Bancorp, Inc. (EBSB), Banner Corporation (BANR)

Is Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) the right investment to pursue these days? The smart money is taking an optimistic view. The number of long hedge fund positions went up by 2 in recent months.

At the moment, there are dozens of methods investors can use to monitor their holdings. A couple of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the best investment managers can beat the market by a healthy margin (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to parse down the stock market universe. As the old adage goes: there are lots of stimuli for an upper level exec to cut shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Several academic studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, we’re going to take a peek at the key action regarding Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM).

Hedge fund activity in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 25% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.

Of the funds we track, Kahn Brothers, managed by Irving Kahn, holds the most valuable position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM). Kahn Brothers has a $1 million position in the stock, comprising 0.2% of its 13F portfolio. The second largest stake is held by Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which held a $1 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that hold long positions include Ken Gray and Steve Walsh’s Bryn Mawr Capital, Israel Englander’s Millennium Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, key hedge funds have jumped into Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) headfirst. Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, created the largest position in Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM). Citadel Investment Group had 1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new DCOM position is Mike Vranos’s Ellington.

What have insiders been doing with Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time period, Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also take a look at hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM). These stocks are Meridian Interstate Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBSB), Banner Corporation (NASDAQ:BANR), BofI Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOFI), Roma Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ROMA), and Flushing Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:FFIC). This group of stocks are in the savings & loans industry and their market caps match DCOM’s market cap.

With the returns demonstrated by Insider Monkey’s time-tested strategies, retail investors should always monitor hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM) is an important part of this process.

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