Valley National Bancorp $VLY Shares Bought by World Investment Advisors

World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 141.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 199,243 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 116,826 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $2,447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $2,714,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,753,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth $34,593,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $103,120,000. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 47.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,164,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,940,000 after acquiring an additional 694,459 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock traded up $0.16 on Tuesday, hitting $14.95. 1,272,416 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,289,712. The company has a fifty day moving average of $13.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $8.95 and a one year high of $14.98.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $531.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $17.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $17.50 target price on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.