AXQ Capital LP Acquires New Shares in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. $ZION

AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 22,284 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,305,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ZION. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. during the 4th quarter worth about $105,700,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,963,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $167,677,000 after acquiring an additional 711,218 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,008,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,224,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 2,982.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 489,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,695,000 after acquiring an additional 473,597 shares in the last quarter. 76.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ZION. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore boosted their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.53.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Stock Performance

Shares of ZION opened at $61.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.81. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a 52 week low of $46.09 and a 52 week high of $66.18.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The bank reported $1.56 EPS 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 analyst estimates 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 previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 6.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Stockholders 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 repurchase plan on Saturday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $225.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 2.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 4,209 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.