Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock Price Down 8.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) shares traded down 8.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $10.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Valley National Bancorp traded as low as $7.32 and last traded at $7.35. 3,007,085 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 51% from the average session volume of 6,183,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.00.

VLY has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "b-" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total transaction of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 14,630 shares of the company's stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,227 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,201,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 47,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 26,971 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 144,288 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,632,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 8.5 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $8.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.82% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $449.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $467.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. Analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 46.32%.

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.