Analyzing Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) & Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA)

Republic Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBCAA) and Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Republic Bancorp and Zions Bancorporation, N.A., as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Republic Bancorp	0	3	1	0	2.25
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	3	12	5	0	2.10

Republic Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $98.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.65%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a consensus target price of $71.29, indicating a potential upside of 4.28%. Given Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is more favorable than Republic Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Republic Bancorp and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Republic Bancorp	$403.43 million	4.69	$131.32 million	$6.55	14.72
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$3.74 billion	2.67	$899.00 million	$7.85	8.71

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

Risk and Volatility

Republic Bancorp has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.78, indicating that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

24.4% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are held by institutional investors. 55.9% of Republic Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Republic Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.98 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Republic Bancorp pays out 30.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 24.5% 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. Republic Bancorp has increased its dividend for 27 consecutive years and Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Republic Bancorp	25.38%	11.20%	1.77%
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	23.92%	13.72%	1.11%

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats Republic Bancorp on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Republic Bancorp

Republic Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Republic Bank & Trust Company that provides various banking products and services in the United States. It operates in six segments: Traditional Banking, Warehouse, Mortgage Banking, Tax Refund Solutions, Republic Payment Solutions, and Republic Credit Solutions. The company offers demand, money market accounts, savings, individual retirement accounts, time, brokered, and other certificates of deposit; and retail and commercial mortgage, construction and land development, consumer, aircraft, and marine loans. It also provides credit cards; title insurance and other financial products and services; and private banking, lockbox processing, remote deposit capture, business online banking, account reconciliation, automated clearing house processing, and internet and mobile banking services. In addition, it offers short-term and revolving credit facilities to mortgage bankers through mortgage warehouse lines of credit; mortgage banking; tax refund solutions, which facilitate the receipt and payment of federal and state tax refund products through third-party tax preparers and tax-preparation software providers; payments-related products and services to consumers through third party service providers; and consumer credit products. The company offers its services through full-services banking centers in Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and Tennessee. Republic Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1974 and is headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky.

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.