Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Hits New 52-Week Low on Insider Selling

Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) reached a new 52-week low on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $6.47 and last traded at $6.50, with a volume of 170520 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $6.52.

Specifically, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total value of $185,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,734,521.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total value of $185,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $74,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,451 shares of company stock worth $378,452. 1.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VLY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target (down from $12.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.89.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 3.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.56. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.93 and a beta of 1.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $890.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.38 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.53%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $43,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $93,000. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.