Norges Bank Makes New $31.49 Million Investment in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,475,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,490,000. Norges Bank owned about 0.68% of Valley National Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,002,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,020,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204,651 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,164,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,170,000 after buying an additional 300,385 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 384.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,970,862 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,276,000 after acquiring an additional 7,118,044 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,612,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,966,000 after acquiring an additional 640,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,211,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,276,000 after acquiring an additional 534,846 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:VLY opened at $8.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $6.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.51.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.02). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 5.14%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 63.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on VLY shares. Citigroup upped their price target 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. StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.78.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp 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.