Delta Financial Group Inc. Invests $293,000 in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 32,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 7,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $95,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on VLY shares. StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective 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, Citigroup lifted their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. The trade was a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $9.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.39. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.47 and a 1-year high of $11.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 63.77%.

Valley National Bancorp 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.