Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,002,161 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,204,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.82% of Valley National Bancorp worth $453,020,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $784,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $191,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 104,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 10,567 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 66,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 8,032 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $397,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY stock opened at $8.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.53 and its 200 day moving average is $9.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 1.11. 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, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.95%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 63.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

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.