Analysts Set Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Price Target at $10.00

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.00.

VLY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet cut shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wedbush cut their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total value of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,136.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 198.1% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 80.8% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 3,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,631 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $7.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.95. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $6.39 and a 1 year high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $449.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 14.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.53%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

About Valley National Bancorp

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.