Valley National Bancorp Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:VLY)

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 33,288 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 621% compared to the average daily volume of 4,615 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on VLY shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $9.50 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.31.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 3.3 %

Valley National Bancorp stock opened at $9.34 on Friday. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.19 and a 200 day moving average of $7.65.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.67 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 6.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 54.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 15,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 5,568 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $49,734,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $390,000. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 36,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 4,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 54,375.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 26,100 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Valley National Bancorp

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.