Keynote Financial Services LLC Takes $239,000 Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 30,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $98,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.75. The stock had a trading volume of 10,900,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,287,807. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $6.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released 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). The company had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.67 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 10.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 51.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total value of $65,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,582,285.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,582,285.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 51,451 shares of company stock valued at $378,452 in the last ninety days. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.61.

Valley National Bancorp 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.