Valley National Bancorp $VLY Shares Bought by Boothbay Fund Management LLC

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management LLC significantly increased its position in Valley National Bancorp, growing its holdings by 634.2% in the first quarter, now owning 889,190 shares valued at $7.9 million.
• Valley National Bancorp received an upgraded rating to "buy" from Truist Financial with a price target of $11.00, while several analysts indicate a consensus price target of $10.95.
• The company will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share on October 1st, representing an annual yield of 4.2%, highlighting its strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 634.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 889,190 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 768,088 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned 0.16% of Valley National Bancorp worth $7,905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,218,329 shares of the company's stock worth $89,308,000 after acquiring an additional 5,147,786 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $183,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,194,000. Kodai Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP now owns 1,922,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,088,000 after buying an additional 483,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 1,062,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,442,000 after buying an additional 404,694 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on VLY. Truist Financial raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $10.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.95.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 0.8%

Valley National Bancorp stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.73. The company had a trading volume of 10,186,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,407,733. 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 1-year low of $7.48 and a 1-year high of $11.10. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.13. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.12.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. The company 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 revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

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.