Piper Jaffray Downgrades Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (DCOM) to Neutral

Piper Jaffray downgraded Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCOM) from Overweight to Neutral with a price target of $19.00.

Analyst Matthew Breese commented, "We are downgrading shares of DCOM to Neutral from Overweight as 1.) We currently see shares as fairly valued trading at 13.3x our 2017 EPS estimates vs. similarly profitable peers at 12.7x, and 2.) Our thesis has largely played out as the company sold valuable bank-owned real estate for a sizable gain in 1Q and is putting excess capital to work through loan growth. Looking ahead, while we believe the company will be able to successfully grow loans at a double digit clip in 2016 and 2017, margin pressure remains a significant headwind as funding costs are expected to increase. Overall, we believe the ROA ratio will remain at ~0.80% through 2018 due to continued, albeit moderating asset yield pressure and higher funding costs driven by efforts to reduce the L/D ratio of 147%."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. click here. For more ratings news on Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. click here.

Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. closed at $18.61 yesterday.

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