Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.75.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VLY shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 10.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $10.52 on Friday. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.22. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.92 and a 200-day moving average of $8.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.07.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The company had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 193.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,173,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,703,552 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 1,501.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,676,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,431,000 after purchasing an additional 5,322,278 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 995.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,775,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,522,204 shares during the period. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $6,618,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 378.4% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 612,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 484,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.