Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,400 shares, a decrease of 22.1% from the February 13th total of 26,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 15,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. bought 2,393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.00 per share, for a total transaction of $59,825.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 150,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,750,650. This trade represents a 1.62 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gary Strong bought 1,000 shares of Oak Valley Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was purchased 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 9,924 shares of company stock worth $256,577 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 19.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Oak Valley Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OVLY. Valmark Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Oak Valley Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,726,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 118.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $688,000 after purchasing an additional 12,782 shares during the last quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $295,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 122.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 8,471 shares in the last quarter. 30.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OVLY traded up $0.22 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.54. 8,820 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,562. The firm has a market cap of $205.13 million, a PE ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.45. Oak Valley Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $23.00 and a fifty-two week high of $32.24.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Oak Valley Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 19.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.