SpiderRock Advisors LLC Invests $211,000 in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 28,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of VLY. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 155.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 308,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,642,000 after purchasing an additional 187,917 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 10.2% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 32,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 2,987 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 111.5% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 70,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 37,331 shares during the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $154,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Valley National Bancorp by 220.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 569,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,878,000 after acquiring an additional 392,244 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on VLY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target (down previously from $12.00) on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Friday, May 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 25,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total transaction of $185,750.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total transaction of $127,001.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 224,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,734,521.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total transaction of $185,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 51,451 shares of company stock valued at $378,452 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $6.60. 1,531,635 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,733,682. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a PE ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.28. Valley National Bancorp has a twelve month low of $6.47 and a twelve month high of $11.22.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $890.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.38 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 7.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.76%.

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.