Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) by 34.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,654 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 9,348 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. were worth $1,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 7,886 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1.2% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 21,548 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 15,940 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $902,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,719 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

In other news, CEO Harris H. Simmons acquired 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $59.03 per share, with a total value of $265,635.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,317,493 shares in the company, valued at $77,771,611.79. This trade represents a 0.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 4,209 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $263,062.50. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,038 shares of company stock worth $439,948. 1.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ZION shares. Evercore upped their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stephens increased their price target on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.53.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ZION opened at $60.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $59.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.07. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a fifty-two week low of $45.52 and a fifty-two week high of $66.18. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.83.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 19.53%.The firm had revenue of $859.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.73 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Saturday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $225.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s dividend payout ratio is 27.99%.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Company Profile

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is a bank holding company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, offering a full suite of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions. Through its primary subsidiary, Zions Bank, the company provides commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management solutions designed to serve the needs of small businesses, middle‐market firms and high‐net‐worth clients. Its service portfolio includes deposit accounts, cash‐management tools, lending products, mortgage origination, treasury services and investment advisory services.

The company’s commercial banking segment delivers custom credit and treasury management services, including working capital lines of credit, equipment financing and international trade finance.