Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Hovde Group Analyst Says

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) had its price target boosted by investment analysts at Hovde Group from $16.00 to $16.50 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Hovde Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 21.77% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $16.00 price target (up from $15.50) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. National Bank Financial set a $17.00 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $15.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.13.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ VLY opened at $13.55 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.34. The stock has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 1.04. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $8.36 and a 12-month high of $14.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $531.89 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 18.61% and a return on equity of 8.68%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $1,225,870.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 64,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $868,821.18. The trade was a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $103,120,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,013.8% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,831,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,217,716 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $71,554,000. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 404.7% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,867,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 260.8% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 5,239,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,787,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.