Valley National Bancorp’s (VLY) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $12.50 price target on the stock.

VLY has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.50 to $11.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.44.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $9.05 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.79. The firm has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.47 and a 1-year high of $11.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 5.87%. The firm had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.86%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 384.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,970,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,276,000 after buying an additional 7,118,044 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,703,552 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,501.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,676,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,431,000 after acquiring an additional 5,322,278 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 995.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,775,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $19,399,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.