California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System significantly increased its Zions Bancorporation stake by 6,628.9% in the second quarter, owning 11.9 million shares valued at approximately $824.2 million, or 8.16% of the company.
• Zions reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings of $1.74 per share versus the $1.57 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.14 billion, up 35.7% year over year.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend to $0.48 per share, yielding about 2.8%, and authorized a $75 million share buyback. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $71.29.

California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Free Report) by 6,628.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,912,304 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 11,735,272 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 8.16% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. worth $824,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 5.2% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,159 shares of the bank's stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Michels Family Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Michels Family Financial LLC now owns 12,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $711,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. grew its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,555 shares of the bank's stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 27,838 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,630,000 after buying an additional 203 shares during the period. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 4.7% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,670 shares of the bank's stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ZION shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $66.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.29.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Price Performance

ZION stock opened at $68.75 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.78. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a 52 week low of $46.19 and a 52 week high of $73.34. The company's 50-day moving average price is $69.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $877.44 million. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a return on equity of 13.72% and a net margin of 23.92%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Zions Bancorporation, N.A.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 13th. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.46%.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $75.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 0.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Scott J. Mclean sold 33,285 shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.63, for a total value of $2,350,919.55. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 73,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,159,027.09. The trade was a 31.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Scott A. Law sold 4,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.42, for a total value of $333,711.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,381,893.80. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 88,787 shares of company stock valued at $6,283,858 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.43% of the company's stock.

About Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is a financial services company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Through its affiliated banks, the company provides a broad range of banking and related financial services to individuals, small and midsize businesses, commercial clients, and public-sector organizations.

The company's services include commercial and consumer lending, deposits, home loans, cash management, treasury services, wealth management, investment services, and capital markets activities.

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