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

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during 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. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Performance

OVLY traded down $0.33 on Friday, reaching $24.00. The company had a trading volume of 10,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,520. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.41. The company has a market cap of $200.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.00 and a beta of 0.28. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 52-week low of $23.00 and a 52-week high of $32.24.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 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 declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Oak Valley Bancorp's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Oak Valley Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.87%.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Oak Valley Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oak Valley Bancorp

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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% during 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 during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $163,000. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. 30.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.