Short Interest in Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Declines By 22.1%

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gary Strong acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.17 per share, for a total transaction of $27,170.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,842 shares in the company, valued at $321,747.14. This represents a 9.22 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. acquired 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.97 per share, with a total value of $155,820.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 147,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,834,029.01. This trade represents a 4.24 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 9,924 shares of company stock worth $256,577. 19.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oak Valley Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 0.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 217,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,769,000 after acquiring an additional 842 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Oak Valley Bancorp by 12.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 190.2% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. 30.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Performance

OVLY traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.51. The stock had a trading volume of 709 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,511. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.87 million, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.45. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 52 week low of $23.00 and a 52 week 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 for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 28.03%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Oak Valley Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Oak Valley Bancorp Company Profile

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.