Bleakley Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 12,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of VLY. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $276,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 179.4% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 34,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 22,120 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 29.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 37,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after buying an additional 8,514 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 16.2% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 35,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total transaction of $406,668.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VLY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush cut their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Barclays began coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.67.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 3.0 %

NASDAQ VLY opened at $7.20 on Wednesday. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.39 and a one year high of $11.22. The business’s fifty day moving average is $7.94 and its 200-day moving average is $8.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $449.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 14.82%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.11%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.32%.

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.