Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $12.50 target price on the stock.

VLY has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $10.50 to $11.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.44.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $9.05 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.79. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $6.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.10. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The firm had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.87 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 5.87%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 147.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 5,560 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.