Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.31.

VLY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $9.50 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VLY. Natixis Advisors L.P. purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $272,000. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 17,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,941 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 5,568 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $4,326,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $49,734,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

VLY stock opened at $8.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $8.03 and its 200 day moving average is $7.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.67 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 6.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

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.