EJF Capital LLC Buys 47,725 Shares of Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Key Points

• EJF Capital LLC increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 8.1%, making it the fund's third largest position, with a total of 637,880 shares valued at approximately $5.67 million.
• Valley National Bancorp reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.23, exceeding the expected $0.22, while the company's annual dividend yield reached 4.2% with a quarterly payment of $0.11 per share.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their ratings on Valley National Bancorp, with target prices now ranging from $10.00 to $11.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.

EJF Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 637,880 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,725 shares during the quarter. Valley National Bancorp accounts for approximately 3.6% of EJF Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. EJF Capital LLC owned about 0.11% of Valley National Bancorp worth $5,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VLY. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 291,418 shares of the company's stock worth $2,641,000 after buying an additional 44,663 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 531,963 shares of the company's stock worth $4,820,000 after buying an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position 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 valued at $52,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011,030 shares during the period. Comerica Bank raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 199,705 shares of the company's stock worth $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $738,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Valley National Bancorp stock traded up $0.08 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 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 twelve month low of $7.48 and a twelve month high of $11.10. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 1.13. The business's fifty day moving average price is $9.72 and its 200 day moving average price 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 12.87%.The business had revenue of $495.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "hold" rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Truist Financial raised Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $10.95.

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.