State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Grows Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 289,307 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,361 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.06% of Valley National Bancorp worth $3,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of VLY. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $1,614,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 363.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 192,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 151,355 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $93,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 19.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 94,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 15,726 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 26.0% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.33.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $7.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.39 and a 12-month high of $11.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.09.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $890.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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.