Valley National Bancorp Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:VLY)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity: Traders purchased 3,000 put options on Valley National Bancorp, nearly 897% above the average volume of 301 contracts.
• Analyst outlook remains positive: Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $16.27, despite some recent target-price adjustments.
• Shares and fundamentals: VLY rose 0.6% to $12.70, while institutional investors own 61% of the stock. The bank reported 13.3% year-over-year revenue growth, paid a quarterly dividend of $0.11, and missed quarterly EPS estimates by $0.01.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 3,000 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 897% compared to the average volume of 301 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $17.00 to $15.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Valley National Bancorp from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $17.00 price objective on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cim Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,523 shares of the company's stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 5,038 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 22.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 75,084 shares of the company's stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 13,729 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 24.3% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 69,997 shares of the company's stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 13,687 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 239.5% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,478 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 68,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of VLY traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,570,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,124,011. The stock's 50 day moving average is $13.78 and its 200 day moving average is $13.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $9.64 and a 1 year high of $15.20.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 19.49%. The firm had revenue of $560.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $557.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Valley National Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.29%.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp is the bank holding company for Valley National Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey. Founded in 1927, the company provides banking and related financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions.

Valley National Bank offers a range of consumer and commercial products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, commercial and industrial lending, consumer loans, mortgages and treasury management services.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.