Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on VLY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.50 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.78.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ VLY traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $8.19. 2,073,016 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,630,909. The company has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $6.47 and a 52-week high of $11.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $9.52 and its 200-day moving average is $9.52.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $510,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,056,492.29. The trade was a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Valley National Bancorp by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 5,181 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,101,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327,829 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 41.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,494,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after purchasing an additional 439,831 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,612,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,966,000 after purchasing an additional 640,933 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 6.0% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

About Valley National Bancorp

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.