Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $9 Million Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 30.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 993,030 shares of the company's stock after selling 441,775 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Valley National Bancorp worth $8,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VLY. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 557.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,679 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 7,358 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.06. The company had a trading volume of 9,892,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,149,155. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.75. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $6.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.10. The company has a market cap of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.61 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The company had revenue of $921.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.87 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 9.42% and a return on equity of 5.87%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is 70.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $10.50 to $11.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.19.

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.