UBS Group AG Purchases 75,322 Shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

UBS Group AG grew its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 721,430 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,322 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. were worth $42,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Community Bank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Curat Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Curat Global LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 17.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 76.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ZION shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore increased their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.53.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Stock Performance

Shares of ZION stock opened at $63.99 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $58.77 and a 200-day moving average of $57.67. The company has a market cap of $9.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a one year low of $45.24 and a one year high of $66.18.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $859.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.73 million. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a net margin of 19.53% and a return on equity of 13.90%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.99%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Harris H. Simmons acquired 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.03 per share, with a total value of $265,635.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,317,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,771,611.79. The trade was a 0.34% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven Dan Stephens sold 15,476 shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.90, for a total transaction of $1,019,868.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,269.30. This represents a 27.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 24,863 shares of company stock worth $1,621,712 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. 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.