Short Interest in Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) Decreases By 17.7%

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,500,000 shares, a decline of 17.7% from the December 31st 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 currently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity at Zions Bancorporation, National Association

In other Zions Bancorporation, National Association news, EVP Paul E. Burdiss sold 9,506 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.06, for a total transaction of $580,436.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 86,232 shares in the company, valued at $5,265,325.92. This trade represents a 9.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 3,605 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,714 shares in the company, valued at $1,434,894.84. The trade was a 12.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,496 shares of company stock worth $873,762 in the last ninety days. 2.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Zions Bancorporation, National Association

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ZION. 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 valued at $332,515,000 after purchasing an additional 896,889 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 3.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,687,988 shares of the bank's stock worth $221,367,000 after acquiring an additional 140,084 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,698,530 shares of the bank's stock worth $146,396,000 after acquiring an additional 14,070 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,637,917 shares of the bank's stock valued at $124,592,000 after acquiring an additional 30,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 165.0% during the 3rd quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 905,576 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,761,000 after purchasing an additional 563,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ZION. Barclays boosted their price target on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $71.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.71.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Trading Up 1.1 %

ZION stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $58.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 856,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,261,886. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a 12 month low of $37.76 and a 12 month high of $63.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's 50 day moving average price is $57.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.36. The company has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.12.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.08. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a net margin of 15.70% and a return on equity of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $820.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $787.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. Zions Bancorporation, National Association's revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 4.96 EPS for the current year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from Zions Bancorporation, National Association's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Zions Bancorporation, National Association's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.75%.

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.