Natixis Advisors LLC Has $24.52 Million Stock Position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its Zions Bancorporation stake by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, but still held 418,817 shares valued at about $24.5 million.
• Zions posted a solid first-quarter earnings beat, reporting $1.56 EPS versus the expected $1.43, while revenue also came in slightly above estimates at $859 million.
• The bank continues to return capital to shareholders with a $0.45 quarterly dividend and a new $225 million share repurchase program; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Natixis Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Free Report) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 418,817 shares of the bank's stock after selling 39,617 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. worth $24,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,305,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 40.6% during the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 80,329 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,702,000 after purchasing an additional 23,191 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. during the 4th quarter worth about $105,700,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 5,399 shares of the bank's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,963,243 shares of the bank's stock worth $173,501,000 after purchasing an additional 30,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ZION. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $75.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Brean Capital began coverage on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.53.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Trading Up 3.8%

ZION opened at $63.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a 1-year low of $46.19 and a 1-year high of $66.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $60.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.09.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $859.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 14th. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.99%.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Saturday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $225.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 4,209 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $263,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.43% of the company's stock.

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.

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