Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Buy” Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $14.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $11.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. National Bankshares set a $13.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $12.50 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.15.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $10.76 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.13. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $7.48 and a 1-year high of $11.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $10.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.24.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $495.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.79 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 206.6% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 2,896 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter worth $39,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 11,831.1% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 5,324 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.