Short Interest in Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBT) Expands By 51.8%

Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBT) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 81,413 shares, a growth of 51.8% from the February 26th total of 53,639 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 45,052 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OBT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Orange County Bancorp by 5,416.7% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in shares of Orange County Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Orange County Bancorp by 174.5% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Orange County Bancorp by 140.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Orange County Bancorp by 706.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OBT. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $32.00) on shares of Orange County Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Orange County Bancorp from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Orange County Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Orange County Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Orange County Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Orange County Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ OBT traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 36,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 44,860. Orange County Bancorp has a 1 year low of $20.97 and a 1 year high of $37.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $425.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.65.

Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.18. Orange County Bancorp had a net margin of 26.32% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The business had revenue of $33.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.40 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Orange County Bancorp will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orange County Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. Orange County Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 21.69%.

About Orange County Bancorp

Orange County Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: OBT) is the bank holding company for Orange County Trust Bank, a community banking franchise headquartered in Goshen, New York. The company provides a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and local organizations across Orange County and the surrounding Hudson Valley region.

Orange County Bancorp offers depository products that include checking and savings accounts, money market funds and certificates of deposit. On the lending side, the company extends commercial real estate and business loans, residential mortgage loans, consumer installment loans and home equity financing.