Kestra Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 39.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 79,452 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,636 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 11.8% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 48.2% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 0.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 6.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 31,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

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

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

VLY opened at $10.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $9.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57 and a beta of 1.12. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $6.47 and a 1 year high of $11.10.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on VLY. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.67.

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.