Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) & Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) Head to Head Survey

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Preferred Bank and Zions Bancorporation, N.A., as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Preferred Bank	0	4	3	0	2.43
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	1	13	5	1	2.30

Preferred Bank presently has a consensus target price of $102.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.69%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a consensus target price of $66.35, indicating a potential downside of 4.03%. Given Preferred Bank’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Preferred Bank is more favorable than Zions Bancorporation, N.A..

Risk and Volatility

Preferred Bank has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Preferred Bank pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Preferred Bank pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 28.0% 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. Preferred Bank has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

72.8% of Preferred Bank shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Preferred Bank and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Preferred Bank	$505.97 million	2.99	$133.63 million	$10.68	9.81
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$3.44 billion	2.96	$899.00 million	$6.43	10.75

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

Profitability

This table compares Preferred Bank and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Preferred Bank	26.49%	17.52%	1.79%
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	19.53%	13.90%	1.09%

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats Preferred Bank on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Preferred Bank

Preferred Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, entrepreneurs, real estate developers and investors, professionals, and high net worth individuals. The company accepts checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts; fixed-rate and fixed maturity retail, and non-retail certificates of deposit; and individual retirement accounts. It also provides real estate mortgage loans that are secured by retail, industrial, office, special purpose, and residential single and multi-family properties; real estate construction loans; commercial loans comprising lines of credit for working capital, term loans for capital expenditures, and commercial and stand-by letters of credit; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company offers trade finance services, including commercial and export letters of credit, import lines of credit, documentary collections, international wire transfers, acceptances/trust receipt financing products, export financing, and bills purchase programs. Further, it provides cash management services; and internet, mobile, and tablet banking services. The company operates through full-service branch offices in the California counties of Los Angeles, Orange and San Francisco; Flushing, New York; Houston suburb of Sugar Land, Texas; and a satellite office in Manhattan, New York. The company was incorporated in 1991 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

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.