Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 51.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 163,358 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170,286 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $1,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in VLY. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 48,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 11.8% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 283,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler raised Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.78.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $8.78 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.52. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.47 and a 1-year high of $11.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.11.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.14% and a net margin of 10.62%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction of $510,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. The trade was a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.