641,006 Shares in Valley National Bancorp $VLY Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 641,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,391,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 123.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 127.3% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 2,227 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group set a $17.00 target price on Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, June 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY opened at $13.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $9.64 and a 1 year high of $15.20. The firm has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34 and a beta of 1.03.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 19.49%.The company had revenue of $560.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.16 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. Valley National Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, 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 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 37.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Valley National Bancorp news, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total transaction of $372,991.85. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,113,577.08. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.