Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Valley National Bancorp hit a new 52-week high of $14.19 on Tuesday, and the stock was last up about 1.7% at $14.2030.
• Recent analyst action has been broadly positive, with multiple firms raising price targets; the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $15.13.
• The bank’s latest quarter beat expectations, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, equal to a 3.1% annualized yield.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $14.19 and last traded at $14.2030, with a volume of 622019 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $13.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $15.00 target price (up from $14.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $16.00 target price (up from $15.50) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.13.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $531.89 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 18.61%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Valley National Bancorp's payout ratio is 39.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total value of $1,225,870.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 64,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,821.18. The trade was a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.06% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 41.8% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,163 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $330,000. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 42.0% in the first quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,485 shares of the company's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 8,728 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 8.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,919,652 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,133,000 after buying an additional 290,534 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 110.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 80,737 shares of the company's stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 42,385 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Valley National Bancorp

Valley National Bancorp NASDAQ: VLY is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.

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