Carlos Vazquez Buys 2,500 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Stock

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Director Carlos Vazquez acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.45 per share, with a total value of $33,625.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 4,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $57,189.40. The trade was a 142.69% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Valley National Bancorp stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $13.52. 285,019 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,169,412. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $12.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43 and a beta of 1.10. Valley National Bancorp has a twelve month low of $7.48 and a twelve month high of $13.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.92% and a net margin of 17.11%.The business had revenue of $541.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on VLY. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 2nd. National Bank Financial set a $16.00 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.20.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLY. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. First Horizon Corp raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 52.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.