Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $14.78 and last traded at $14.8230, with a volume of 272645 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two 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.com, Valley National Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.13.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.80.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued 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 analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $1,225,870.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 64,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $868,821.18. This trade represents a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total value of $372,991.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,577.08. This trade represents a 25.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 43,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 13,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 11,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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.