Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,720,000 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the November 30th total of 31,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on VLY. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $10.50 to $11.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.00.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VLY traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $9.12. 5,257,986 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,140,509. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.71.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.87% and a net margin of 9.42%. The firm had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 70.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 147.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 5,560 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.