Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY)

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 27,408 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 183% compared to the average daily volume of 9,683 put options.

Valley National Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of VLY stock traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,634,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,169,860. Valley National Bancorp has a 1-year low of $6.39 and a 1-year high of $11.22. The company has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.83.

Valley National Bancorp (NASDAQ:VLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.03). Valley National Bancorp had a net margin of 14.82% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $449.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Valley National Bancorp will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Valley National Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 14th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 13th. Valley National Bancorp’s payout ratio is 46.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Valley National Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $8.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Valley National Bancorp from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Valley National Bancorp from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Valley National Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.67.

Insider Transactions at Valley National Bancorp

In other news, EVP Joseph Chillura sold 49,715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.18, for a total value of $406,668.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 545,249 shares in the company, valued at $4,460,136.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valley National Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth about $92,000. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $93,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Valley National Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $93,000. Institutional investors own 61.00% of the company’s stock.

Valley National Bancorp Company 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.