Investors Purchase High Volume of Valley National Bancorp Call Options (NASDAQ:VLY)

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 7,633 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 118% compared to the average volume of 3,499 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Carlos J. Vazquez acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.45 per share, for a total transaction of $33,625.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 4,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,189.40. This trade represents a 142.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 282,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after purchasing an additional 15,771 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth $191,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,445,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,852,000 after buying an additional 255,870 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 34.9% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 60,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 15,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the second quarter worth $119,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on VLY shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.64.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 1.3%

VLY stock opened at $12.44 on Thursday. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $7.48 and a one year high of $13.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.31 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 17.11% and a return on equity of 7.92%. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.56%.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY) is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.