JPMorgan analyst Steven Alexopoulos says that as part of New York Community Bancorp's (NYCB) acquisition of Astoria Financial (AF), its dividend was cut by 32% to 17c from 25c. While the acquisition puts NYCB over the $50B asset threshold, the dividend provided support for shares, Alexopoulos tells investors in a research note. Further, the company will now need regulatory approval to pay the dividend given the pending $614M charge to restructure its balance sheet, the analyst points out. He still sees more risk than reward to NYCB shares and keeps an Underweight rating on the name.