Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $15.00 to $17.50 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.05% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on VLY. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. National Bank Financial set a $17.50 price objective on Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.43.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.82. 425,453 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,320,561. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $8.95 and a 1 year high of $14.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $531.89 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 18.61%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,113,577.08. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $1,225,870.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 64,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,821.18. This represents a 58.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $103,120,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 1,013.8% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,831,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,787,000 after buying an additional 6,217,716 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $71,554,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 404.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,867,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,197,000 after buying an additional 4,704,971 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 260.8% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 5,239,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,197,000 after buying an additional 3,787,203 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Valley National Bancorp

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.