Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $16.3571.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on VLY shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

VLY opened at $13.84 on Tuesday. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $9.64 and a one year high of $15.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.65.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $560.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $557.16 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 19.49% and a return on equity of 9.13%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 37.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,079,026,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $150,121,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,178.8% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,957,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,571,000 after purchasing an additional 7,334,837 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $71,554,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,872,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp is the bank holding company for Valley National Bank, a full-service regional financial institution headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. Founded in 1927, the company provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses, commercial real estate clients and municipalities.

Valley National Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and business lending, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, residential mortgages, home equity products, and treasury management services.