Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays cut their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.67.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ VLY opened at $7.87 on Friday. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.47 and a 52 week high of $11.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $9.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.47.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. The trade was a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VLY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,002,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,020,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204,651 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,663,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $259,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810,005 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,059,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,558,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,821,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,122,000 after purchasing an additional 656,200 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% 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.