Inspire Investing LLC Buys 5,881 Shares of Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) by 13.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,684 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Valley National Bancorp were worth $354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 378.4% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 612,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,874,000 after acquiring an additional 484,332 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the first quarter worth approximately $1,021,000. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 74.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 248,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 106,290 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted 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 valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,734,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on VLY shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $7.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $8.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $8.00 to $8.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.31.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of VLY stock opened at $9.06 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.08. Valley National Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $6.47 and a fifty-two week high of $11.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.67.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $884.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $458.67 million. Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 6.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.76%.

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.