Critical Contrast: Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF)

Regions Financial (NYSE:RF) and Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZION) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Regions Financial has a beta of 1.16, indicating that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a beta of 1.07, indicating that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

79.4% of Regions Financial shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, National Association shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Regions Financial shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Zions Bancorporation, National Association shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Regions Financial and Zions Bancorporation, National Association”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Regions Financial	$9.15 billion	2.54	$2.07 billion	$1.77	14.36
Zions Bancorporation, National Association	$3.01 billion	2.83	$680.00 million	$4.39	13.11

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for Regions Financial and Zions Bancorporation, National Association, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Regions Financial	1	6	11	0	2.56
Zions Bancorporation, National Association	1	17	1	0	2.00

Regions Financial currently has a consensus target price of $25.45, suggesting a potential upside of 0.16%. Zions Bancorporation, National Association has a consensus target price of $53.12, suggesting a potential downside of 7.70%. Given Regions Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Regions Financial is more favorable than Zions Bancorporation, National Association.

Profitability

This table compares Regions Financial and Zions Bancorporation, National Association’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Regions Financial	18.78%	12.60%	1.30%
Zions Bancorporation, National Association	14.09%	13.89%	0.88%

Dividends

Regions Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Zions Bancorporation, National Association pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Regions Financial pays out 56.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Zions Bancorporation, National Association pays out 39.2% 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. Regions Financial has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Zions Bancorporation, National Association has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Regions Financial is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Regions Financial beats Zions Bancorporation, National Association on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Regions Financial

Regions Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides banking and bank-related services to individual and corporate customers. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The Corporate Bank segment offers commercial banking services, such as commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and investor real estate lending; equipment lease financing; deposit products; and securities underwriting and placement, loan syndication and placement, foreign exchange, derivatives, merger and acquisition, and other advisory services. It serves corporate, middle market, and commercial real estate developers and investors. The Consumer Bank segment provides consumer banking products and services related to residential first mortgages, home equity lines and loans, consumer credit cards, and other consumer loans, as well as deposits. The Wealth Management segment offers credit related products, and retirement and savings solutions; and trust and investment management, asset management, and estate planning services to individuals, businesses, governmental institutions, and non-profit entities. It also provides investment and insurance products; low-income housing tax credit corporate fund syndication services; and other specialty financing services. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.

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. 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.