Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The bank reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.04, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $795.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.49 million. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Stock Performance

ZION opened at $43.62 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.95 and a 200 day moving average of $53.43. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a fifty-two week low of $39.32 and a fifty-two week high of $63.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.81, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s payout ratio is 34.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 22,673 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.47, for a total transaction of $1,280,344.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655,305.11. This represents a 43.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Dan Stephens sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.71, for a total transaction of $557,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,847 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,554,136.37. The trade was a 17.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,029 shares of company stock worth $1,855,321 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $40.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 0.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ZION. Barclays upped their price target on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Zions Bancorporation, National Association from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $64.00 price target on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.81.

About Zions Bancorporation, National Association

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.