Millstone Evans Group LLC Makes New $62,000 Investment in Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,140 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $62,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,041,818 shares of the bank’s stock worth $332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 896,889 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,961,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association in the third quarter valued at approximately $24,647,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,882,983 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $264,902,000 after acquiring an additional 194,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Zions Bancorporation, National Association during the fourth quarter worth $7,739,000. 76.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ZION has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $54.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 22,673 shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.47, for a total transaction of $1,280,344.31. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 29,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655,305.11. This trade represents a 43.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Dan Stephens sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.71, for a total value of $557,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,136.37. This represents a 17.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,713 shares of company stock worth $1,839,686 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Stock Performance

Shares of ZION opened at $49.51 on Monday. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a 52-week low of $39.05 and a 52-week high of $63.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $820.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $787.70 million. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.65%. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s payout ratio is 34.75%.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, February 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $40.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 0.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.