Reviewing Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) & Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC)

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) and Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Banco Santander Chile, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	3	11	6	0	2.15
Banco Santander Chile	1	4	3	1	2.44

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. currently has a consensus target price of $72.53, suggesting a potential upside of 11.24%. Banco Santander Chile has a consensus target price of $35.40, suggesting a potential upside of 4.95%. Given Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is more favorable than Banco Santander Chile.

Volatility and Risk

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Banco Santander Chile has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Banco Santander Chile”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$3.74 billion	2.55	$899.00 million	$7.85	8.31
Banco Santander Chile	$4.50 billion	3.53	$1.12 billion	$2.62	12.87

Banco Santander Chile has higher revenue and earnings than Zions Bancorporation, N.A.. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Banco Santander Chile, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.4% of Banco Santander Chile shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Banco Santander Chile pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 24.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Banco Santander Chile pays out 42.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Banco Santander Chile’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	23.92%	13.72%	1.11%
Banco Santander Chile	27.04%	22.94%	1.70%

Summary

Banco Santander Chile beats Zions Bancorporation, N.A. on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

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. The company offers commercial and small business banking services to small- and medium-sized businesses, such as commercial, industrial, and owner-occupied lending and leasing; municipal and public finance services; depository account and cash management services; commercial and small business cards; merchant processing services; corporate trust services; and correspondent banking and international lending services. It also provides capital markets and investment banking services, including loan syndications, foreign exchange services, interest rate derivatives, fixed income securities underwriting, advisory and capital raising, commercial mortgage-backed security conduit lending, and power and project financing; and commercial real estate lending services consisting of term and construction/land development financing for commercial and residential purposes. In addition, the company offers retail banking services comprising residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, installment consumer loans, depository account services, consumer cards, and personal trust services; and wealth management services consisting of investment management, fiduciary and estate, and advanced business succession and estate planning services. The company was formerly known as ZB, National Association and changed its name to Zions Bancorporation, National Association in September 2018. Zions Bancorporation, National Association was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About Banco Santander Chile

Banco Santander-Chile, together with its subsidiaries, provides commercial and retail banking services in Chile. It operates through Retail Banking, Middle-Market, Corporate Investment Banking, and Corporate Activities segments. The company offers debit and credit cards, checking accounts, and savings products; consumer, automobile, commercial, mortgage, and government-guaranteed loans; and Chilean peso and foreign currency-denominated loans to finance various commercial transactions, trade, foreign currency forward contracts, and credit lines, as well as mortgage financing services. It also provides mutual fund management, insurance and securities brokerage, foreign exchange services, financial leasing, financial consulting and advisory, investment management, foreign trade, leasing, factoring, treasury, and transactional services, as well as specialized services to finance residential projects. In addition, the company offers short-term financing and fundraising, and brokerage services, as well as derivatives, securitization, and other products; and manages capital allocations. It serves individuals, small to middle-sized entities, companies, and large corporations, as well as universities, government entities, and local and regional governments. The company was incorporated in 1977 and is headquartered in Santiago, Chile. Banco Santander-Chile operates as a subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A.