149,386 Shares in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 149,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,623,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of VLY. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 14,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 111,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 47,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY increased its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 26,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 56,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VLY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total value of $406,668.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $7.71 on Friday. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $6.39 and a 52-week high of $11.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $7.89 and a 200 day moving average of $8.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $449.97 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.49 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 14.82%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 46.32%.

Valley National Bancorp 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.