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

Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBT) saw a large growth in short interest during 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 stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 45,052 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orange County Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in Orange County Bancorp in the second quarter worth $6,210,000. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Orange County Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,121,000. EJF Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orange County Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,944,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Orange County Bancorp by 29.8% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 319,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,262,000 after buying an additional 73,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Orange County Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,638,000. 42.55% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Orange County Bancorp Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Orange County Bancorp stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.85. 36,880 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 46,343. Orange County Bancorp has a 52 week low of $20.97 and a 52 week high of $37.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.62. The company has a market cap of $425.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Orange County Bancorp (NASDAQ:OBT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $33.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.40 million. Orange County Bancorp had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 26.32%. Equities analysts expect that Orange County Bancorp will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orange County Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. 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.