Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as high as $11.17 and last traded at $11.13, with a volume of 5105237 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $10.64.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 44,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 988.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 82,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 75,283 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $260,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,828 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 2.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.99 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.35.

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

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.41%.

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.