Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 100,330 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 2,687% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,600 call options.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $11.98 on Friday. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $7.48 and a fifty-two week high of $12.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.21. The company has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.02. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.86% and a return on equity of 6.67%. The firm had revenue of $511.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $10.00 to $13.50 in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $11.00 to $14.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of VLY. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $103,120,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 101.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,218,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,147,786 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $31,276,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $34,593,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

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.