Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $11.35 and last traded at $10.96, with a volume of 11163200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Valley National Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.25.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $10.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.62. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 1.12.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $511.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $511.47 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 6.67%. Valley National Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLY. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 22.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $652,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 1.0% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,100,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,787,000 after buying an additional 10,996 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 33.3% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after buying an additional 4,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hourglass Capital LLC increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 6.3% during the first quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 444,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,952,000 after buying an additional 26,280 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.