Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $14.19 and last traded at $14.2030, with a volume of 622019 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on VLY shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 price objective (up from $14.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.13.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.54. The stock has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 18.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 39.64%.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $1,225,870.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 64,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $868,821.18. The trade was a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 123.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 52.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY) is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.