Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.66 and last traded at $11.5950, with a volume of 1499595 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $11.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.25.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 3.2%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.09. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The business had revenue of $511.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 14.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 973,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,659,000 after buying an additional 122,600 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 361,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,216,000 after acquiring an additional 94,289 shares during the last quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 634.2% during the 1st quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 889,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,905,000 after acquiring an additional 768,088 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the second quarter worth $31,276,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 2.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,817,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,494,000 after purchasing an additional 204,942 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.