Rafferty Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 17.7%, now holding 226,555 shares worth approximately $11.3 million.
• Zions Bancorporation recently reported earnings of $1.58 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates and demonstrating a net margin of 16.98% for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45, marking an increase from the previous quarter's dividend of $0.43, which translates to an annual yield of 3.1%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Free Report) by 17.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,555 shares of the bank's stock after selling 48,829 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.15% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. worth $11,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,040,473 shares of the bank's stock worth $351,027,000 after purchasing an additional 233,252 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,791,047 shares of the bank's stock worth $189,022,000 after purchasing an additional 136,870 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 57.5% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,133,336 shares of the bank's stock worth $106,368,000 after purchasing an additional 778,861 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 249.6% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,624,521 shares of the bank's stock worth $88,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,473,712 shares of the bank's stock worth $79,949,000 after purchasing an additional 284,624 shares during the last quarter. 76.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.78.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:ZION traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,190,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,516. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.33. The company has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.93. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a twelve month low of $39.32 and a twelve month high of $63.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $838.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $810.24 million. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 13.76%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This is a positive change from Zions Bancorporation, N.A.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.91%.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Profile

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.