Valley National Bancorp's (VLY) "Equal Weight" Rating Reaffirmed at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "Equal Weight" rating on Valley National and raised its price objective to $15 (from $14), implying roughly a 9.9% upside from the prior close.
• The broader analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target near $15.10, and several firms (JPMorgan, Hovde, Cantor Fitzgerald, Raymond James) have recently upgraded or lifted targets.
• Valley beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $0.29 vs. $0.27 and revenue of $540.4M vs. $531.9M; the shares trade around $13.65, insiders have conducted both buys and large sales, and institutions own about 61% of the stock.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reiterated by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $15.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $14.00. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.89% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on VLY. National Bank Financial set a $17.00 target price on Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.10.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $13.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 1.04. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $8.36 and a 1-year high of $14.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $12.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.08.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 18.61%.The firm had revenue of $540.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $531.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Carlos J. Vazquez purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.45 per share, for a total transaction of $33,625.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,252 shares in the company, valued at $57,189.40. The trade was a 142.69% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 64,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $868,821.18. This trade represents a 58.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLY. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $103,120,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,013.8% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 6,831,049 shares of the company's stock worth $79,787,000 after acquiring an additional 6,217,716 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $71,554,000. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 404.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,867,611 shares of the company's stock worth $62,197,000 after acquiring an additional 4,704,971 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 260.8% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 5,239,435 shares of the company's stock worth $61,197,000 after acquiring an additional 3,787,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company's stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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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