Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 367,981 Shares of Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 10,678.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 371,427 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 367,981 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $4,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1,013.8% in the fourth 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 in the 4th quarter valued at $71,554,000. UBS Group AG increased 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 valued at $62,197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704,971 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 260.8% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 5,239,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,197,000 after buying an additional 3,787,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 252.9% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 3,910,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,671,000 after buying an additional 2,802,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $17.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.50 to $16.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.93.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of VLY stock opened at $14.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $14.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.14. Valley National Bancorp has a 12 month low of $8.95 and a 12 month high of $15.20.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $531.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 39.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, COO Russell Barrett sold 90,537 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.54, for a total transaction of $1,225,870.98. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 64,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,821.18. The trade was a 58.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,113,577.08. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.06% of the stock is currently 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.