Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on VLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler raised Valley National Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $12.50 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $10.78.

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Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Valley National Bancorp stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $8.04. 7,328,587 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,827,613. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $9.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.51. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 1.06.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is 63.77%.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,002,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $453,020,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204,651 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 28,663,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $259,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,810,005 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,059,328 shares of the company's stock worth $154,558,000 after buying an additional 8,088,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,821,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,122,000 after buying an additional 656,200 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,558,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company's stock.

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.