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

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $8.67.

VLY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com cut Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total transaction of $65,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,582,285.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 461.7% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 567,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,960,000 after buying an additional 466,303 shares during the period. Waterfall Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,693,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 114.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 221,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after purchasing an additional 118,551 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 995.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,775,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 193.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,173,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,703,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 8.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $8.89 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $7.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.64. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.08.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 10.79%. The firm had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.67 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

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.