Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Valley National Bancorp has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by analysts at Wall Street Zen, indicating potential concerns about its stock performance.
• Despite the downgrade, nine investment analysts still rated Valley National Bancorp as a buy, with an average target price of $11.85.
• The company's stock has shown volatility, trading down 1.4% recently and having a market cap of $6.13 billion with a fifty-two week price range between $7.48 and $11.12.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

VLY has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $12.50 price objective for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $10.00 to $13.50 in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, National Bankshares set a $13.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.85.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.94. 165,829 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,972,453. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $7.48 and a fifty-two week high of $11.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.22. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 56.41%.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VLY. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 101.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,218,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,308,000 after acquiring an additional 5,147,786 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $32,286,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the second quarter worth $31,276,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 43.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,214,867 shares of the company's stock worth $90,810,000 after buying an additional 3,091,169 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $15,890,000. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.