Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 34.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,677 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,484 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 363.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 192,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 151,355 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $93,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 94,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 15,726 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 36,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter worth $130,000. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total transaction of $406,668.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on VLY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.33.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $7.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.39 and a 12-month high of $11.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.78.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $890.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.38 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

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.