Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $15.00 to $17.50. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Valley National Bancorp traded as high as $14.94 and last traded at $14.7090, with a volume of 253630 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.80.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Hovde Group raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $17.50 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total value of $372,991.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,116 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,577.08. This trade represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $1,225,870.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,821.18. The trade was a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 0.3% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,478,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,072,000 after buying an additional 88,894 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,029,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,200,000 after acquiring an additional 247,651 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $103,120,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,333,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,336,000 after purchasing an additional 702,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,013.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,831,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,217,716 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.91. The company has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.89 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 8.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY) is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.