Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $9.67.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VLY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total value of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,460,136.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $93,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 23.7% during the third quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 1.9 %

VLY opened at $7.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $7.87 and its 200-day moving average is $8.83. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $6.39 and a 52-week high of $11.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $449.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.82% and a return on equity of 8.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

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.