What Makes Avidia Bancorp (AVBC) an Investment Choice?

Riverwater Partners, an investment management company, released its “Micro Opportunities Strategy” Q3 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The strategy reported solid absolute returns in the quarter but lagged the benchmark as it did not keep pace with the strong rally. The strategy continues to focus on quality companies in the volatile environment. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.

In its third-quarter 2025 investor letter, Riverwater Partners Micro Opportunities Strategy highlighted stocks such as Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC). Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) is a bank holding company for Avidia Bank. The one-month return for Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) was 12.66%, and its shares gained 7.94% over the last three months. On December 16, 2025, Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) stock closed at $17.00 per share, with a market capitalization of $341.296 million.

Riverwater Partners Micro Opportunities Strategy stated the following regarding Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:

"Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) is a Boston- and Worcester-based community bank with $2.9 billion in assets and 10 branches, offering a full range of personal and business banking services, including deposits, residential mortgages, C&I and CRE lending, as well as investment services through LPL Financial. A standout feature of the bank is its growing payments processing business, which serves more than 17,000 small merchants and provides both non-interest income and a source of low-cost deposits. AVBC has a strong capital base with a TCE/TA ratio of 12%, an attractive deposit mix with 81% core deposits, and a well-diversified loan book that includes niche strengths in condo association lending and dental practice financing.

The bank recently completed its mutual-to-stock IPO conversion, pricing at just 58% of tangible book value, well below peers that trade closer to 130%, creating significant valuation upside. With experienced leadership, insider ownership of over 25%, and EPS projected to ramp meaningfully from $0.09 in FY25 to $1.11 in FY26, AVBC offers investors an appealing combination of deep value, franchise strength, and growth potential in one of the wealthiest and most stable banking markets in the U.S."

Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 6 hedge fund portfolios held Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) at the end of the third quarter, which was 0 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Avidia Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:AVBC) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.