Ieq Capital LLC Buys 389,779 Shares of Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by purchasing 389,779 shares, bringing its total ownership to 422,020 shares, valued at approximately $3.75 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates and Northern Trust Corp, have also boosted their positions in Valley National Bancorp, which is currently owned 61% by institutional investors.
• Valley National Bancorp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, representing an annual yield of 4.2%, scheduled for payment on October 1st.

Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 1,209.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 422,020 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 389,779 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.08% of Valley National Bancorp worth $3,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,040,885 shares of the company's stock worth $267,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,377,676 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,558,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,817,098 shares of the company's stock worth $69,494,000 after purchasing an additional 204,942 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,155,871 shares of the company's stock worth $63,616,000 after purchasing an additional 944,340 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,788,927 shares of the company's stock worth $52,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011,030 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on VLY shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $10.95.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.46. 6,584,612 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,650,314. The company has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.13. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $7.48 and a 52 week high of $11.10.

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

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is 56.41%.

About Valley National Bancorp

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.