Strs Ohio Raises Stock Holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 107.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,443,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,037,000 after acquiring an additional 2,301,128 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 13,025,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,499,000 after purchasing an additional 920,140 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 220.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 569,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 392,244 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,427,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,856,000 after purchasing an additional 356,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,034,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,188 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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 value of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 is available at this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on VLY shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush dropped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays began coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.33.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $7.32 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.82. Valley National Bancorp has a 12 month low of $6.39 and a 12 month high of $11.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $890.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.38 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors 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 dividend yield of 6.01%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.76%.

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.