BOK Financial (NASDAQ:BOKF – Get Free Report) and Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, dividends and risk.
Dividends
BOK Financial pays an annual dividend of $2.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Valley National Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. BOK Financial pays out 23.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Valley National Bancorp pays out 37.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. BOK Financial has increased its dividend for 20 consecutive years.
Profitability
This table compares BOK Financial and Valley National Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| BOK Financial | 18.97% | 10.09% | 1.16% |
| Valley National Bancorp | 19.49% | 9.13% | 1.06% |
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for BOK Financial and Valley National Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| BOK Financial | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Valley National Bancorp | 0 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 2.94 |
BOK Financial presently has a consensus price target of $140.70, suggesting a potential upside of 12.56%. Valley National Bancorp has a consensus price target of $16.27, suggesting a potential upside of 27.60%. Given Valley National Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Valley National Bancorp is more favorable than BOK Financial.
Volatility & Risk
BOK Financial has a beta of 0.82, meaning that its share price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Valley National Bancorp has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
34.4% of BOK Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.0% of Valley National Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 63.5% of BOK Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Valley National Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares BOK Financial and Valley National Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| BOK Financial | $3.38 billion | 2.25 | $577.99 million | $10.61 | 11.78 |
| Valley National Bancorp | $2.15 billion | 3.27 | $597.98 million | $1.18 | 10.81 |
Valley National Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than BOK Financial. Valley National Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BOK Financial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Valley National Bancorp beats BOK Financial on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
About BOK Financial
BOK Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for BOKF, NA that provides various financial products and services in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Northwest Arkansas, Colorado, Arizona, and Kansas/Missouri. It operates through three segments: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking, and Wealth Management. The Commercial Banking segment offers lending, treasury, cash management, and customer commodity risk management products for small businesses, middle market, and larger commercial customers, as well as operates TransFund electronic funds transfer network. The Consumer Banking segment engages in the provision of retail lending and deposit services to small business customers through retail branch network; and mortgage loan origination and servicing activities. The Wealth Management segment offers fiduciary, private bank, insurance, and investment advisory services; and brokerage and trading services primarily related to providing liquidity to the mortgage markets through trading of U.S. government agency mortgage-backed securities and related derivative contracts, as well as underwrites state and municipal securities. The company also provides commercial loans, such as loans for working capital, facilities acquisition or expansion, purchases of equipment, and other needs of commercial customers; and service, healthcare, manufacturing, wholesale/retail, energy, and other sector loans. In addition, it offers commercial real estate loans for the construction of buildings or other improvements to real estate and property held by borrowers for investment purposes; residential mortgage and personal loans; and automated teller machine, call center, and Internet and mobile banking services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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. The company offers non-interest bearing, savings, NOW, money market, and time deposit accounts; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, residential mortgage, and automobile loans; loans secured by the cash surrender value of life insurance; home equity loans and lines of credit; automobile financing; and secured and unsecured other consumer loans. It also invests in various securities and interest-bearing deposits with other banks; and provides international banking services, such as standby and documentary letters of credit, and related products, as well as foreign exchange transactions, documentary collections, and foreign wire transfers services. In addition, the company offers investment services for individuals and small to medium sized businesses; and trusts investment strategies designed for various investment profiles and objectives. Further, it provides trust services, such as living and testamentary trusts, investment management, custodial and escrow services, and estate administration to individuals; tax credit advisory services; brokerage services; property and casualty, life, health, and title insurance agency services; and health care equipment lending and other commercial equipment leasing services, as well as owns real estate related investments. Additionally, the company offers online, mobile, and telephone banking services; receivable, payment, and security solution, merchant, payroll processing, and liquidity services; credit cards; and drive-in and night deposit, automated teller machine, remote deposit capture, and safe deposit facility services. Valley National Bancorp was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey.
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