Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.31.

VLY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $9.50 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays decreased their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY stock opened at $9.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.65. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.22. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.08.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.07). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 6.53% and a net margin of 10.79%. The business had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 51.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 193.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,173,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,233,000 after buying an additional 6,703,552 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,734,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 995.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,775,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522,204 shares during the last quarter. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth $6,618,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 484,332 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.