Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) Upgraded to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $71.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on ZION. Stephens raised their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.25.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ZION opened at $55.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.12. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a twelve month low of $37.76 and a twelve month high of $63.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $57.07 and a 200-day moving average of $50.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.63 million. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 13.89%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s payout ratio is presently 39.18%.

Insider Transactions at Zions Bancorporation, National Association

In other Zions Bancorporation, National Association news, EVP Paul E. Burdiss sold 9,506 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.06, for a total transaction of $580,436.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 86,232 shares in the company, valued at $5,265,325.92. This trade represents a 9.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Eric Ellingsen sold 1,238 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.84, for a total transaction of $75,319.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 35,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,817.52. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,881 shares of company stock worth $1,108,184. 2.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zions Bancorporation, National Association

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,248,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $271,003,000 after buying an additional 929,251 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 14.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,041,818 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $332,515,000 after acquiring an additional 896,889 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 165.0% during the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 905,576 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,761,000 after acquiring an additional 563,889 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,684,460 shares of the bank’s stock worth $126,762,000 after acquiring an additional 538,049 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Zions Bancorporation, National Association in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $24,647,000. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Company Profile

Zions Bancorporation, National Association provides various banking products and related services primarily in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. It operates through Zions Bank, California Bank & Trust, Amegy Bank, National Bank of Arizona, Nevada State Bank, Vectra Bank Colorado, and The Commerce Bank of Washington segments.