Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 113,527 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 60.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 299,963 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 113,527 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $3,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in VLY. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $276,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 179.4% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 34,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 22,120 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 37,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 8,514 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 35,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. Wedbush cut their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.67.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

VLY stock opened at $7.20 on Thursday. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.39 and a 1-year high of $11.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $7.92 and its 200-day moving average is $8.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $449.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.82% and a return on equity of 8.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total transaction of $406,668.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,136.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.