Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Short Interest Update

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 26,200 shares, a decrease of 27.8% from the January 31st total of 36,300 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 15,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Performance

OVLY traded down $0.77 on Tuesday, reaching $25.74. 10,137 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,220. The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.13 and its 200-day moving average is $27.54. The company has a market cap of $215.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.33. Oak Valley Bancorp has a twelve month low of $22.91 and a twelve month high of $32.24.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 14.28%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This is an increase from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. Oak Valley Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 19.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oak Valley Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oak Valley Bancorp

In related news, Director Gary Strong acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.17 per share, with a total value of $27,170.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,842 shares in the company, valued at $321,747.14. The trade was a 9.22 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. acquired 2,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, with a total value of $59,825.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 150,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,750,650. The trade was a 1.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 9,924 shares of company stock worth $256,577. Corporate insiders own 19.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oak Valley Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OVLY. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 190.2% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.86% of the company’s stock.

About Oak Valley Bancorp

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.