Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires New Stake in Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 105,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of VLY. Compass Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 123.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ VLY opened at $14.09 on Thursday. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $9.64 and a 12-month high of $15.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.57 and its 200-day moving average is $13.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.04.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $560.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.16 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valley National Bancorp news, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total transaction of $372,991.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,577.08. The trade was a 25.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.06% 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.