Graham Capital Management L.P. Takes Position in Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired 246,770 shares of Valley National Bancorp, valued at approximately $2.19 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts and an average price target of $10.95, with notable ratings from Truist Financial and Royal Bank Of Canada.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 4.2%, which reflects its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 246,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,194,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $74,558,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $32,286,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $15,890,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,040,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,593.5% during the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,380,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,269,000 after buying an additional 1,298,597 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $10.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,186,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,407,733. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $7.48 and a fifty-two week high of $11.10. The company's 50 day moving average is $9.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.12.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $495.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $495.79 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on VLY. Morgan Stanley raised Valley National Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $11.00 in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $10.95.

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.