Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,430,000 shares, a growth of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 27,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 6.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of VLY stock opened at $8.25 on Monday. 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 market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.45.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.22 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 63.77%.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In other Valley National Bancorp news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 50,000 shares of Valley National Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.21, for a total transaction 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 $5,056,492.29. The trade was a 9.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Valley National Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $31,490,000. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 66,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 8,032 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 35,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 5,181 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,101,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,278,000 after buying an additional 1,327,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 41.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,494,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,539,000 after buying an additional 439,831 shares during the period. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

VLY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 12th. Piper Sandler upgraded Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Valley National Bancorp from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.67.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Valley National Bancorp

About Valley National Bancorp

(Get Free Report)

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.

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