Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 7,633 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 118% compared to the average volume of 3,499 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VLY. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial raised Valley National Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.64.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, Director Carlos J. Vazquez acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.45 per share, with a total value of $33,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,189.40. This represents a 142.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 282,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,508,000 after buying an additional 15,771 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $191,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 21.5% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,445,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,852,000 after acquiring an additional 255,870 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 34.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 60,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 15,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $119,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.53. 2,721,608 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,274,553. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 1.07. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $7.48 and a one year high of $13.87.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.31 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 17.11%.The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 43.56%.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY) is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.