SpiderRock Advisors LLC Invests $211,000 in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 28,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLY. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 155.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 187,917 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 10.2% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 111.5% in the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 70,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 37,331 shares during the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $154,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 220.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 569,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after acquiring an additional 392,244 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,531,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,733,682. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.28. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.47 and a 52 week high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $890.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.38 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 12.88%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.76%.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on VLY. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.67.

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.