Morgan Stanley Boosts Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Price Target to $10.00

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) had its price objective hoisted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $9.50 to $10.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 14.94% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com cut Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.63.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $8.70 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.08. Valley National Bancorp has a 12 month low of $6.47 and a 12 month high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.67 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 10.79%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 535,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 11.1% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 14,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 2.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 104,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 121,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, private banking, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments.