Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 42,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

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

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $7.20 on Thursday. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.39 and a 52 week high of $11.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $449.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 14.82%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total value of $406,668.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp 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.