Investors Purchase Large Volume of Valley National Bancorp Call Options (NASDAQ:VLY)

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 7,633 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 118% compared to the typical volume of 3,499 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on VLY shares. Weiss Ratings raised Valley National Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 2nd. National Bank Financial set a $16.00 price objective on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carlos J. Vazquez acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.45 per share, for a total transaction of $33,625.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,189.40. This trade represents a 142.69% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,478,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,072,000 after acquiring an additional 88,894 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,029,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,200,000 after purchasing an additional 247,651 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth $103,120,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,333,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,336,000 after purchasing an additional 702,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,013.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,831,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,217,716 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock traded up $0.25 on Wednesday, hitting $12.53. 2,721,608 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,274,553. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $12.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.07. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $7.48 and a one year high of $13.87.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 17.11%.The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.31 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.56%.

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.