Short Interest in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) Declines By 17.1%

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,720,000 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the November 30th total of 31,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Valley National Bancorp Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:VLY opened at $9.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Valley National Bancorp has a 1 year low of $6.47 and a 1 year high of $11.10. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $9.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.72.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The company had revenue of $921.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.87 million. Valley National Bancorp had a return on equity of 5.87% and a net margin of 9.42%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 70.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VLY. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Valley National Bancorp from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $10.50 to $11.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Valley National Bancorp from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.00.

Institutional Trading of Valley National Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased 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. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 416.8% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 5,001 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 46.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 2,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Valley National Bancorp by 147.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 5,560 shares in the last quarter. 61.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.