Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock Price Up 5.8% – Here’s Why

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)’s stock price shot up 5.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $9.69 and last traded at $9.65. 2,712,933 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 5,814,269 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.88.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.73 and a 200 day moving average of $7.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 6.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 61.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 5,001 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 46.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.