Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,500,000 shares, a drop of 17.7% from the December 15th total of 5,470,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $56.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Zions Bancorporation, National Association from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $71.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.25.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ZION opened at $58.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $57.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.55. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a fifty-two week low of $37.76 and a fifty-two week high of $63.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.12.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.21. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a net margin of 14.09% and a return on equity of 13.89%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.18%.

Insider Activity

In other Zions Bancorporation, National Association news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 3,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.06, for a total value of $209,306.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,434,894.84. This trade represents a 12.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Paul E. Burdiss sold 9,506 shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.06, for a total value of $580,436.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 86,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,265,325.92. This represents a 9.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,881 shares of company stock valued at $1,108,184 over the last 90 days. 2.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zions Bancorporation, National Association

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association in the second quarter valued at about $101,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Zions Bancorporation, National Association in the 2nd quarter valued at about $262,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 0.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 500,068 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,688,000 after acquiring an additional 4,423 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 17.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,248,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $271,003,000 after purchasing an additional 929,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 14.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 43,505 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 5,598 shares during the last quarter. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Zions Bancorporation, National Association

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.