Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Piper Sandler currently has $11.00 price target on the stock.

VLY has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $12.50 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.78.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

VLY traded down $0.20 on Monday, hitting $8.78. 5,418,074 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,612,370. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.50. Valley National Bancorp has a twelve month low of $6.47 and a twelve month high of $11.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.11.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This trade represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $74,558,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,059,328 shares of the company's stock worth $154,558,000 after purchasing an additional 8,088,466 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,002,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $453,020,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204,651 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $31,490,000. Finally, Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $27,180,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.