Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBT) Short Interest Up 24.5% in March

Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 112,300 shares, an increase of 24.5% from the February 28th total of 90,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 23,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Orange County Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in Orange County Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Orange County Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Orange County Bancorp by 27.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Orange County Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Orange County Bancorp by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 5,294 shares of the company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Orange County Bancorp from $33.00 to $35.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Orange County Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of OBT stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $23.91. 8,831 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,890. The company has a market cap of $271.59 million, a P/E ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.42. Orange County Bancorp has a 12-month low of $21.00 and a 12-month high of $33.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.05). Orange County Bancorp had a net margin of 19.47% and a return on equity of 15.51%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Orange County Bancorp will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orange County Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 4th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Orange County Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Orange County Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 21.05%.

Orange County Bancorp Company Profile

Orange County Bancorp, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial and consumer banking products and services, and trust and wealth management services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, local municipal governments, and individuals. It accepts various deposits, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand accounts, money market deposit accounts, savings accounts, and certificates of deposit.