Leeward Investments LLC MA Has $14.33 Million Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Leeward Investments LLC MA cut its holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,799,887 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,735 shares during the quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $14,327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $136,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $137,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 54.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 5,568 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.67.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $6.70. The company had a trading volume of 3,864,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,382,578. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $6.47 and a 1 year high of $11.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.28.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced 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 the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.57%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.76%.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $74,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 25,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total transaction of $185,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $74,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total value of $127,001.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 224,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,734,521.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,451 shares of company stock valued at $378,452. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp 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.