Hedge Funds Are Betting On Valley National Bancorp (VLY)

Now, key hedge funds have jumped into Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY) headfirst. Folger Hill Asset Management, led by Solomon Kumin, created the most outsized position in Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY). The fund reportedly had $2.2 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group also made a $0.2 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new VLY positions are Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management and Alec Litowitz and Ross Laser’s Magnetar Capital.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY). We will take a look at Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE:AVP), Genworth Financial Inc (NYSE:GNW), Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI), and Minerals Technologies Inc (NYSE:MTX). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble VLY’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $253 million. That figure was just $75 million in VLY’s case. Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE:AVP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI) is the least popular one with only 17 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Valley National Bancorp (NYSE:VLY) is even less popular than PRI. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock. This isn’t necessarily bad news. Although it is possible that hedge funds may think the stock is overpriced and view the stock as a short candidate, they may not be very familiar with the bullish thesis. In either case more research is warranted.

Disclosure: none.