Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) by 11.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,211,490 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 127,740 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.24% of Valley National Bancorp worth $10,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 5,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 2,271 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $103,000. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on VLY. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.60.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $9.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.05. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $8.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.39.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $479.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.98 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.77%.

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.

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