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

by · The Cerbat Gem

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.44.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLY. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $8.50 in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, December 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $9.50 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Valley National Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $11.00 to $10.00 in a report on Monday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 20th.

View Our Latest Analysis on VLY

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of VLY opened at $11.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.17. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.39 and a 12-month high of $12.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 18.93% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The company had revenue of $871.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $471.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 14th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.64, for a total value of $864,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 591,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,108,270.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 198.1% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 73.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,622 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 486.6% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 5,241 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 80.8% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.98% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

(Get Free Report

Valley National Bancorp operates as the holding company for Valley National Bank that provides various commercial, retail, insurance, and wealth management financial services products. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Treasury and Corporate other segments. The company offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans.

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