Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Shares Gap Down to $7.83

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $7.83, but opened at $7.49. Valley National Bancorp shares last traded at $7.61, with a volume of 59,791 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.44.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.08.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. The company had revenue of $890.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.38 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.76%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total value of $65,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $3,582,285.93. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total transaction of $127,001.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 224,679 shares in the company, valued at $1,734,521.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total transaction of $65,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $3,582,285.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 51,451 shares of company stock worth $378,452. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 45,625,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,492,000 after acquiring an additional 198,236 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 24,889,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,800 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,294,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,361,000 after purchasing an additional 259,796 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,093,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,314,000 after purchasing an additional 161,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $49,734,000. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.