Seven Eight Capital LP Acquires New Shares in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 27,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 62,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 535,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 38,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Valley National Bancorp by 2.4% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 104,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $834,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 122,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total value of $127,001.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 224,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,734,521.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.57, for a total value of $65,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,582,285.93. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew B. Abramson sold 16,451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.72, for a total transaction of $127,001.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 224,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,734,521.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 51,451 shares of company stock worth $378,452 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.44.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $7.61 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.13 and its 200 day moving average is $7.94. Valley National Bancorp has a 52 week low of $6.47 and a 52 week high of $11.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.21 and a beta of 1.08.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $890.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.38 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 12.88%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.78%. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 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.