StockNews.com Upgrades Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) to “Hold”

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays raised Valley National Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $10.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $10.50 to $11.00 in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $9.50 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Valley National Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.88.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $10.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Valley National Bancorp has a one year low of $6.47 and a one year high of $11.22. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.08.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.87% and a net margin of 9.42%. The business had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 11.8% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 105.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 16,529 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $397,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 31.5% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 180,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 43,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,971,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,159,000 after purchasing an additional 98,574 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.