Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) PT Raised to $9.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) had its target price increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $8.00 to $9.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on VLY. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $8.61.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $8.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 1.08. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 6.53%. The company had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 51.76%.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total value of $65,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,582,285.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total transaction of $65,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $3,582,285.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total transaction of $127,001.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 224,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,734,521.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,451 shares of company stock valued at $378,452 over the last 90 days. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,734,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,889,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,800 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 98.2% during the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,060,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,378,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,815 shares during the period. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $6,618,000. Finally, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $6,366,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.