Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in Valley National Bancorp $VLY

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,066,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,872,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned approximately 1.10% of Valley National Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ VLY opened at $14.09 on Thursday. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $9.64 and a 52 week high of $15.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $14.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.61. The stock 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $560.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $557.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Valley National Bancorp’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.28 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 Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 37.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on VLY. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.10.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, CAO Mitchell L. Crandell sold 25,495 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.63, for a total transaction of $372,991.85. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 76,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,113,577.08. The trade was a 25.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.06% of the company’s stock.

About Valley National Bancorp

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.