Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.50 Million Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 33.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 271,182 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135,076 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $2,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in VLY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth $25,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VLY opened at $9.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 1.09.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $467.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.77%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 70.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on VLY shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $10.50 to $11.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.00.

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.