California State Teachers Retirement System Buys 142,348 Shares of Valley National Bancorp $VLY

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 29.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 622,252 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 142,348 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $7,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in VLY. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,029,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,200,000 after purchasing an additional 247,651 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings 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 valued at $79,787,000 after buying an additional 6,217,716 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $71,554,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,024,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,365,000 after buying an additional 224,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 404.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,867,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,197,000 after buying an additional 4,704,971 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 value of $372,991.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,116 shares in the company, valued at $1,113,577.08. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on VLY shares. National Bank Financial set a $17.50 price objective on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $17.50 to $17.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays increased 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 report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.03.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $14.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 1.04. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $9.08 and a 1-year high of $15.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.37. 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 (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $560.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $557.16 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.29%.

Valley National Bancorp 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.