32,295 Shares in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Bought by Delta Financial Group Inc.

Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 32,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VLY. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $515,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 5,181 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 332.7% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 163,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after acquiring an additional 125,695 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 41.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,494,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,539,000 after acquiring an additional 439,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 66.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 217,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 86,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value of $510,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. This represents a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $9.53 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.62 and a 200-day moving average of $9.39. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $6.47 and a 52-week high of $11.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced 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 last year, the business earned $0.22 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 63.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.67.

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.