The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys New Shares in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 790,404 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $54,688,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.54% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ZION. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the second quarter valued at approximately $982,244,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the fourth quarter valued at about $105,700,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $87,961,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1,270.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,146,992 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,145,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063,303 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the second quarter worth $71,767,000. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ZION. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Stephens cut their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.29.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. stock opened at $68.32 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 8.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $69.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a 52 week low of $46.19 and a 52 week high of $73.34.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $877.44 million. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a net margin of 23.92% and a return on equity of 13.72%. The business’s revenue was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 13th. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.46%.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Saturday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $225.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

In other news, President Scott J. Mclean sold 33,285 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.63, for a total value of $2,350,919.55. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 73,043 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,027.09. This represents a 31.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott A. Law sold 4,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.42, for a total transaction of $333,711.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,381,893.80. This trade represents a 12.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 88,787 shares of company stock worth $6,283,858 in the last quarter. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.