Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY – Get Rating) benefited from a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15, there was short interest totaling 14,200 shares, a 20.3% increase from the July 31 total of 11,800 shares. About 0.2% of the stock’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,600 shares, the day-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Insider Activity at Oak Valley Bancorp

In other news, Director Lynn Dickerson acquired 1,917 shares of the company in a transaction that took place on Thursday, August 4. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.85 per share, with a total value of $34,218.45. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 14,077 shares of the company, valued at approximately $251,274.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, accessible via this hyperlink. In the past 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,536 shares of the company worth $45,100. 19.11% of the shares are currently held by insiders.

Hedge funds weigh on Oak Valley Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OVLY. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 8.5% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,956 shares of the financial services provider valued at $147,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 12.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,388 shares of the financial services provider valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,970 shares during the period. BHZ Capital Management LP increased its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 3.3% in Q1. BHZ Capital Management LP now owns 43,238 shares of the financial services provider worth $798,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares last quarter. rhino investment partners Inc increased its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. rhino investment partners Inc now owns 130,602 shares of the financial services provider worth $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 6,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC increased its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 136,942 shares of the financial services provider worth $2,527,000 after buying an additional 12,699 shares last quarter. 25.20% of the shares are currently held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts set new price targets

Separately, StockNews.com began covering Oak Valley Bancorp in a report on Thursday, August 25. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

Oak Valley Bancorp is trading down 1.2%

OVLY lost $0.22 on Tuesday, hitting $18.06. The company had a trading volume of 1,072 shares, compared to an average volume of 5,349. The company has a market capitalization of $149.00 million, a P/E ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.37 . Oak Valley Bancorp has a 1-year minimum of $16.52 and a 1-year maximum of $19.75. The company’s fifty-day moving average price is $17.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.93.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY – Get Rating) last released its results on Thursday, July 21. The financial services provider reported earnings per share of $0.52 for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a net margin of 26.56% and a return on equity of 10.61%. The company had revenue of $14.60 million in the quarter.

Oak Valley Bancorp increases its dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday August 12. Investors of record on Monday August 1 received a dividend of $0.15. This represents a return of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 29. This is an increase from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.12. Oak Valley Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.76%.

Oak Valley Bancorp Company Profile

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

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