Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Zions Bancorporation stake by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 45,072 shares and leaving it with 232,853 shares valued at about $13.63 million.
• Recent analyst sentiment on ZION is mixed, with several firms raising price targets, but the overall consensus remains Hold with an average target price of $65.53.
• The bank reported solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and it also announced a $225 million share buyback plus a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Free Report) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,853 shares of the bank's stock after selling 45,072 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. worth $13,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 0.4% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,343,076 shares of the bank's stock valued at $415,474,000 after acquiring an additional 30,552 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,888,064 shares of the bank's stock valued at $227,607,000 after acquiring an additional 48,346 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 31.6% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,963,545 shares of the bank's stock valued at $167,677,000 after acquiring an additional 711,218 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 23.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,621,400 shares of the bank's stock valued at $91,739,000 after acquiring an additional 303,783 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 4.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,616,549 shares of the bank's stock valued at $91,464,000 after acquiring an additional 68,351 shares during the period. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZION has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.53.

Insider Activity

In other Zions Bancorporation, N.A. news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 4,209 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.50, for a total value of $263,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.43% of the company's stock.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Stock Performance

ZION opened at $62.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a 1-year low of $46.19 and a 1-year high of $66.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.87.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $859.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.73 million. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 19.53%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 6.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Announces Dividend

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

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

About Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

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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