Bayforest Capital Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 870.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,817 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VLY. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 113,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 133,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 19,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 55,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $10.72 on Wednesday. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $7.48 and a 52-week high of $11.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.13.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.01. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.89% and a net margin of 12.87%.The company had revenue of $495.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 56.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on VLY shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “hold” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial raised Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.15.

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.