Ovata Capital Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Ovata Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 600,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,436,000. Valley National Bancorp comprises about 2.1% of Ovata Capital Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 105.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 32,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 16,529 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 11.8% during 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. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Valley National Bancorp by 14.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 103,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 12,669 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Valley National Bancorp by 9.0% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 52,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 4,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Valley National Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $169,000. 61.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Valley National Bancorp

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 495,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,056,492.29. The trade was a 9.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on VLY. Piper Sandler raised shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $11.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $12.50 price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.78.

Valley National Bancorp Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VLY opened at $8.05 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.51. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.06. Valley National Bancorp has a 12-month low of $6.47 and a 12-month high of $11.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Valley National Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.77%.

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.