Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,900 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $279,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 worth $271,003,000 after purchasing an additional 929,251 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 1.0% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,146,411 shares of the bank’s stock worth $93,089,000 after buying an additional 22,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,724,325 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,784,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 9.7% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,019,182 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,202,000 after buying an additional 90,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association by 75.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.84% of the company’s stock.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ ZION opened at $58.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $51.25 and its 200-day moving average is $47.43. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a one year low of $33.66 and a one year high of $61.80.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.63 million. Zions Bancorporation, National Association had a return on equity of 13.89% and a net margin of 14.09%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Zions Bancorporation, National Association will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Zions Bancorporation, National Association Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. 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 (DPR) is currently 39.18%.

Insider Activity at Zions Bancorporation, National Association

In other news, VP Eric Ellingsen sold 1,238 shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.84, for a total transaction of $75,319.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 35,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,182,817.52. The trade was a 3.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jennifer Anne Smith sold 4,385 shares of Zions Bancorporation, National Association stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.46, for a total value of $234,422.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,321,210.44. This represents a 15.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,228 shares of company stock valued at $519,048. 2.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ZION. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Zions Bancorporation, National Association from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus lowered Zions Bancorporation, National Association from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Zions Bancorporation, National Association from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.59.

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.