Financial Review: Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) & Barclays (NYSE:BCS)

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) and Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

3.4% of Barclays shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.0% of Barclays shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Barclays and Zions Bancorporation, N.A., as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Barclays	0	6	4	0	2.40
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	3	8	7	0	2.22

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a consensus target price of $73.44, suggesting a potential upside of 11.69%. Given Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is more favorable than Barclays.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Barclays and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Barclays	$38.42 billion	1.95	$9.46 billion	$2.78	8.06
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$4.94 billion	1.94	$899.00 million	$8.15	8.07

Barclays has higher revenue and earnings than Zions Bancorporation, N.A.. Barclays is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Zions Bancorporation, N.A., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Barclays pays an annual dividend of $0.61 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Barclays pays out 21.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Barclays and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Barclays	22.74%	9.02%	0.42%
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	24.81%	13.77%	1.14%

Risk and Volatility

Barclays has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats Barclays on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Barclays

Barclays PLC provides various financial services in the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The company operates through Barclays UK and Barclays International division segments. It offers financial services, such as retail banking, credit cards, wholesale banking, investment banking, wealth management, and investment management services. In addition, the company engages in securities dealing activities. The company was formerly known as Barclays Bank Limited and changed its name to Barclays PLC in January 1985. Barclays PLC was founded in 1690 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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. The company offers commercial and small business banking services to small- and medium-sized businesses, such as commercial, industrial, and owner-occupied lending and leasing; municipal and public finance services; depository account and cash management services; commercial and small business cards; merchant processing services; corporate trust services; and correspondent banking and international lending services. It also provides capital markets and investment banking services, including loan syndications, foreign exchange services, interest rate derivatives, fixed income securities underwriting, advisory and capital raising, commercial mortgage-backed security conduit lending, and power and project financing; and commercial real estate lending services consisting of term and construction/land development financing for commercial and residential purposes. In addition, the company offers retail banking services comprising residential mortgages, home equity lines of credit, personal lines of credit, installment consumer loans, depository account services, consumer cards, and personal trust services; and wealth management services consisting of investment management, fiduciary and estate, and advanced business succession and estate planning services. The company was formerly known as ZB, National Association and changed its name to Zions Bancorporation, National Association in September 2018. Zions Bancorporation, National Association was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.