Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Monday.

Oak Valley Bancorp Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of Oak Valley Bancorp stock opened at $25.70 on Monday. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 12 month low of $23.00 and a 12 month high of $32.24. The company has a market capitalization of $214.83 million, a PE ratio of 8.51 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.38.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Oak Valley Bancorp’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. Oak Valley Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.87%.

Insider Activity at Oak Valley Bancorp

In other news, Director Gary Strong purchased 1,000 shares of Oak Valley Bancorp stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director H Randolph Holder, Jr. acquired 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.97 per share, for a total transaction of $155,820.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 147,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,834,029.01. The trade was 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 have purchased 10,202 shares of company stock valued at $264,377. 19.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 190.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Oak Valley Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oak Valley Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Oak Valley Bancorp by 12.2% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.86% of the company’s stock.

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.