Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $11.42 and last traded at $11.3450, with a volume of 1841722 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed a “positive” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $13.25.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $10.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97 and a beta of 1.17.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $511.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 973,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,659,000 after purchasing an additional 122,600 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 35.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 361,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,216,000 after buying an additional 94,289 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 634.2% during the first quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 889,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,905,000 after acquiring an additional 768,088 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,817,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,494,000 after acquiring an additional 204,942 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $15,890,000. 61.00% of the stock is 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.