Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $11.66 and last traded at $11.5950, with a volume of 1499595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on VLY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $10.00 to $13.50 in a report on Monday, September 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $13.25.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.82 and a 200-day moving average of $10.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The firm had revenue of $511.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter worth $39,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 77.4% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 11,831.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 5,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.