Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $15.07 and last traded at $15.06, with a volume of 222206 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on VLY shares. National Bank Financial set a $17.50 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group set a $17.00 price objective on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.93.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 1.8%

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.03.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $531.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $868,821.18. The trade was a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total value 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 $1,113,577.08. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 123.7% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Horizon Corp raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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.