Common and Preferred Stock

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Equity [Abstract]

Common and Preferred Stock

COMMON AND PREFERRED STOCK (Note 18)

Common Stock

Dividend Reinvestment Plan.  Effective June 29, 2009, Valley may issue up to 10.0 million authorized and previously unissued or treasury shares of Valley common stock for purchases under Valley’s dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). Under the DRIP, a shareholder may choose to have future cash dividends automatically invested in Valley common stock and make voluntary optional cash payments of up to $100 thousand per quarter to purchase shares of Valley common stock. Shares purchased under this plan will be issued directly from Valley or in open market transactions. During 2015, 2014 and 2013, 713 thousand, 499 thousand, and 775 thousand of common shares, respectively, were reissued from treasury stock or issued from authorized common shares under the DRIP for net proceeds totaling $7.0 million, $5.0 million and $7.6 million, respectively.

Common Stock Warrants.  On January 1, 2012, Valley assumed in the acquisition of State Bancorp, Inc. a warrant issued (in connection with State Bancorp's redeemed preferred stock issuance) to the U.S. Treasury in December 2008. The ten-year warrant to purchase up to 489 thousand of Valley common shares has an exercise price of $11.30 per share, and is exercisable on a net exercise basis. During May 2015, the U.S. Treasury sold the warrant shares individually through a public action, in which Valley did not receive any of the proceeds. All of the warrants, which will expire on December 5, 2018, remained outstanding and unexercised at December 31, 2015.

In connection with the issuance of senior preferred shares in 2008 under the TARP program, Valley issued to the U.S. Treasury a ten-year warrant to purchase up to approximately $2.5 million of Valley common shares. During 2010, the U.S. Treasury sold the warrant shares individually through a public auction, in which Valley did not receive any of the proceeds. The warrants are currently traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “VLY WS”. Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase approximately 1.103 Valley common shares at $16.12 per share and is exercisable through the expiration date of November 14, 2018.

In July 2008, Valley issued approximately 918 thousand warrants as part of the purchase price for the acquisition of Greater Community Bancorp. All of these warrants expired unexercised on June 30, 2015, and are no longer outstanding.

Repurchase Plan. In 2007, Valley’s Board of Directors approved the repurchase of up to $4.7 million of common shares. Purchases of Valley’s common shares may be made from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions generally not exceeding prevailing market prices. Repurchased shares are held in treasury and are expected to be used for general corporate purposes or issued under the dividend reinvestment plan. Under the repurchase plan, Valley made no purchases of its outstanding shares during the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013.

Other Stock Repurchases. Valley also purchases shares directly from its employees in connection with employee elections to withhold taxes related to the vesting of stock awards, including vested stock options exchanged for Valley common stock in the CNL acquisition. During the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, Valley purchased approximately 387 thousand, 174 thousand and 78 thousand shares, respectively, of its outstanding common stock at an average price of $9.95, $9.96 and $9.91, respectively, for such purpose.

Preferred Stock

On June 19, 2015, Valley issued 4.6 million shares of its Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A, no par value per share, with a liquidation preference of $25 per share. Dividends on the preferred stock accrue and are payable quarterly in arrears, at a fixed rate per annum equal to 6.25 percent from the original issue date to, but excluding, June 30, 2025, and thereafter at a floating rate per annum equal to three-month LIBOR plus a spread of 3.85 percent. The net proceeds from the preferred stock offering totaled approximately $111.6 million. The preferred stock is included in Valley's Tier 1 capital and total risk-based capital at December 31, 2015.