Zions Bancorporation, National Association Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ZION)

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 9,597 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 161% compared to the average daily volume of 3,671 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ZION. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $42.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Zions Bancorporation, National Association from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Zions Bancorporation, National Association presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.61.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Stock Up 6.4 %

Shares of ZION traded up $3.07 on Friday, hitting $50.75. 840,483 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,284,978. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a one year low of $28.90 and a one year high of $53.32. The company has a market capitalization of $7.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $776.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $761.61 million. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 13.53%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s payout ratio is currently 41.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Terry Alan Shirey sold 1,917 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total transaction of $99,262.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,859.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Bruce K. Alexander sold 5,156 shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.83, for a total value of $267,235.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,857 shares in the company, valued at $925,528.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Terry Alan Shirey sold 1,917 shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.78, for a total value of $99,262.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,859.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,073 shares of company stock valued at $3,476,298 in the last ninety days. 2.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Zions Bancorporation, National Association

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZION. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 103.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 165,025 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,163,000 after acquiring an additional 4,993,164 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Zions Bancorporation, National Association during the fourth quarter valued at $67,694,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 valued at $271,003,000 after purchasing an additional 929,251 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 75.0% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,011,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $43,294,000 after buying an additional 433,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 197.5% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 567,198 shares of the bank’s stock worth $24,616,000 after buying an additional 376,549 shares during the period. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Company Profile

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.