Waterfall Asset Management LLC Purchases New Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Waterfall Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 242,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,693,000. Valley National Bancorp makes up about 1.2% of Waterfall Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VLY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,734,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $6,618,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 378.4% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 612,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 484,332 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 103.5% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 843,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,887,000 after acquiring an additional 428,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 821.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 392,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,125,000 after acquiring an additional 349,954 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $9.50 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.31.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $9.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.68. Valley National Bancorp has a 52-week low of $6.47 and a 52-week high of $11.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

Valley National Bancorp Company 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.