Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Holdings in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 333,644 shares of the company's stock after selling 509,732 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.07% of Valley National Bancorp worth $3,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 193.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,173,791 shares of the company's stock worth $69,233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,703,552 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,501.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,676,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,431,000 after buying an additional 5,322,278 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 995.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,775,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,374,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522,204 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 461.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 567,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,960,000 after buying an additional 466,303 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 1.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 25,722,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,537,000 after purchasing an additional 337,416 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on VLY. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $10.50 to $11.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.88.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $10.68. 4,756,840 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,181,193. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.07. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.47 and a 52 week high of $11.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $9.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.30.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $921.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.66 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 70.97%.

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.