Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Acquires Shares of 1,182,206 Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,182,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,319,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned 0.21% of Valley National Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 123.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group set a $17.00 price target on Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total value of $372,991.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 76,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,577.08. This represents a 25.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of VLY opened at $14.09 on Thursday. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $9.64 and a 1-year high of $15.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 1.04.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.01). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 19.49%.The company had revenue of $560.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Valley National Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 37.29%.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ: VLY) is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Wayne, New Jersey, offering a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking products and services. Through its banking subsidiary, Valley National Bank, the company provides deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, mortgage services, treasury and cash management, foreign exchange and trade finance solutions. Complementary wealth management and insurance offerings round out its financial services platform, catering to individual, small-business and corporate clients.

Tracing its roots to the establishment of Wayne National Bank in 1927, Valley has grown into one of the largest banks in New Jersey by both assets and deposit share.