KBC Group NV Acquires 3,041 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

KBC Group NV increased its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,450 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,041 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $38,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% during the third 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. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $10.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.07. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.47 and a 1-year high of $11.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.36 and a 200-day moving average of $8.21.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.87% and a net margin of 9.42%. The business had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $10.50 to $11.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $9.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.88.

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.