Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) by 55.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,693 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,128 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Zions Bancorporation, National Association were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ZION. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 896,889 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 25.1% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,684,460 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $126,762,000 after purchasing an additional 538,049 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association during the third quarter valued at approximately $24,647,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 3.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,687,988 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $221,367,000 after purchasing an additional 140,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,189,000. 76.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Zions Bancorporation, National Association

In related news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 22,673 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.47, for a total transaction of $1,280,344.31. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655,305.11. This represents a 43.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 have sold a total of 32,713 shares of company stock valued at $1,839,686 over the last 90 days. 2.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.71.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Price Performance

ZION stock opened at $54.04 on Friday. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a one year low of $38.01 and a one year high of $63.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $55.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.11.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.08. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $820.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $787.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 24th that permits the company to repurchase $40.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.75%.

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.