Critical Review: Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (ZION) vs. Its Peers

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) is one of 919 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Zions Bancorporation, N.A. to similar companies based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	3	8	7	0	2.22
Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Competitors	7490	30232	27828	1480	2.35

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. currently has a consensus target price of $73.44, suggesting a potential upside of 11.70%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 15.00%. Given Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Risk and Volatility

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s peers have a beta of 0.61, meaning that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 47.8% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$4.94 billion	$899.00 million	8.07
Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Competitors	$9.95 billion	$2.42 billion	21.40

Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Zions Bancorporation, N.A.. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	24.81%	13.77%	1.14%
Zions Bancorporation, N.A. Competitors	15.65%	9.43%	0.93%

Dividends

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 23.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.9% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. peers beat Zions Bancorporation, N.A. on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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.