Bayforest Capital Ltd Increases Holdings in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION)

Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) by 636.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,578 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. were worth $178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ZION. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. in the 4th quarter valued at $793,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 1,065.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,679 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 17,990 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,530 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 3,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Zions Bancorporation, N.A. by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 248,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,503,000 after acquiring an additional 45,336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.84% of the company’s stock.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of ZION stock opened at $52.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a 1-year low of $39.32 and a 1-year high of $63.22.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.27. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. had a net margin of 16.98% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $838.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $810.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Zions Bancorporation, N.A. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ZION shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson raised their price target on Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from $57.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.78.

About Zions Bancorporation, N.A.

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.