Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Short Interest Up 20.3% in March

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,430,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 27,780,000 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 9,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $510,500.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 206.6% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 5,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 219.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 3,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $8.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.06. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.47 and a 1-year high of $11.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VLY shares. 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 research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.67.

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.