Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on VLY. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Cowen assumed coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.54.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY opened at $10.64 on Friday. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $7.48 and a 1 year high of $11.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $10.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.33.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $495.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.79 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 12.87%.Valley National Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.13 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 56.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,218,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,308,000 after buying an additional 5,147,786 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $32,286,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $31,276,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 43.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $15,890,000. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Valley National Bancorp Company 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.