KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Acquires Shares of 85,640 Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 85,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLY. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 384.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,970,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,276,000 after purchasing an additional 7,118,044 shares during the last quarter. Burkehill Global Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,838,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $19,399,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,101,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 806.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 906,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,208,000 after purchasing an additional 806,000 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $12.50 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.78.

Remove Ads

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This trade represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $8.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,075,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,659,816. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.47 and a 52 week high of $11.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 1.11.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 63.77%.

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.