Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.67.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on VLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 80.9% during the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 5,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 557.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 7,358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ VLY opened at $8.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Valley National Bancorp has a twelve month low of $6.47 and a twelve month high of $11.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $9.62 and its 200 day moving average is $9.48.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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.