Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Oak Valley Bancorp Stock Performance

OVLY opened at $25.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $216.11 million, a PE ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 0.35. Oak Valley Bancorp has a 1 year low of $22.91 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.53.

Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Oak Valley Bancorp had a net margin of 31.38% and a return on equity of 15.92%. The company had revenue of $19.05 million during the quarter.

Oak Valley Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Oak Valley Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel J. Leonard purchased 1,000 shares of Oak Valley Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $25,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 60,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,686.50. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,796 shares of company stock worth $44,554. 19.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oak Valley Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OVLY. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Oak Valley Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 4,616 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 7.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,608 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Oak Valley Bancorp by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 376,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,338,000 after purchasing an additional 6,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Oak Valley Bancorp by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 26,289 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,124 shares during the last quarter. 30.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.