Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Shares Up 8.8% on Insider Buying Activity

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 18th, 2023

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Rating)’s share price rose 8.8% on Wednesday following insider buying activity. The stock traded as high as $7.33 and last traded at $7.28. Approximately 3,636,759 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 5,492,091 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.69.

Specifically, Director Marc J. Lenner acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.09 per share, for a total transaction of $30,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $124,643.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Marc J. Lenner bought 2,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.09 per share, with a total value of $30,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 8,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,643.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc J. Lenner purchased 5,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $10.93 per share, for a total transaction of $54,650.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 93,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,023,813.10. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 9,711 shares of company stock worth $126,452 over the last 90 days. 1.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on VLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.50 to $9.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $15.50 to $14.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 7th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.08.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Up 9.7 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.28 and its 200 day moving average is $10.07. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.44 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.03). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 23.22%. The company had revenue of $490.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 37.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.99%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VLY. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 14,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted 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 valued at $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. 54.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Valley National Bancorp Company Profile

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Valley National Bancorp is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Lending, Commercial Lending, Investment Management, and Corporate and Other Adjustments. The Consumer Lending segment consists of residential mortgage loans, automobile loans and home equity loans, as well as wealth management and insurance services.