Why Shares of Bridge Bancorp Fell 20.8% in July

Shares of Long Island-based Bridge Bancorp (NASDAQ: BDGE) tumbled 20.8% in July, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Instead, shares fell sharply following the announcement that Bridge was proposing to join forces with New York City-based Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ: DCOM) in a merger of equals. While the two banks operate in adjacent communities, they had very little overlap in terms of branches: Dime has no branches on the eastern half of Long Island, while Bridge only has a pair of branches within New York City itself.