Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZIONP) versus Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) Critical Analysis

Zions Bancorporation, National Association (NASDAQ:ZIONP) and Beacon Financial (NYSE:BBT) are both financial services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.1% of Beacon Financial shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Beacon Financial shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zions Bancorporation, National Association	N/A	N/A	N/A
Beacon Financial	6.97%	9.02%	0.97%

Dividends

Zions Bancorporation, National Association pays an annual dividend of $1.55 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Beacon Financial pays an annual dividend of $1.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Beacon Financial pays out 106.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Zions Bancorporation, National Association and Beacon Financial, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zions Bancorporation, National Association	0	0	0	0	0.00
Beacon Financial	1	3	3	0	2.29

Beacon Financial has a consensus price target of $32.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.07%. Given Beacon Financial’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Beacon Financial is more favorable than Zions Bancorporation, National Association.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zions Bancorporation, National Association	$3.44 billion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Beacon Financial	$882.68 million	2.89	$90.27 million	$1.21	25.17

Beacon Financial has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Zions Bancorporation, National Association.

Summary

Beacon Financial beats Zions Bancorporation, National Association on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Beacon Financial

Truist Financial Corp. operates as a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. The firm offers a variety of loans and lease financing to individuals and entities, including insurance premium financing, permanent commercial real estate financing arrangements, loan servicing for third-party investors, direct consumer finance loans to individuals, credit card lending, automobile financing and equipment financing. It also markets a range of other services, including deposits, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, health Truist Financial Corp. operates as a financial holding company. It engages in the provision of banking services to individuals, businesses and municipalities. The company operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Wealth; Corporate and Commercial Banking; and Insurance Holdings. The firm offers a variety of loans and lease financing to individuals and entities, including insurance premium financing, permanent commercial real estate financing arrangements, loan servicing for third-party investors, direct consumer finance loans to individuals, credit card lending, automobile financing and equipment financing. It also markets a range of other services, including deposits, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, health insurance and commercial general liability insurance on an agency basis and through a wholesale insurance brokerage operation, merchant services, trust and retirement services, comprehensive wealth advisory services, asset management and capital markets services. The company was founded on December 6, 2019 and is headquartered in Charlotte, NC. insurance and commercial general liability insurance on an agency basis and through a wholesale insurance brokerage operation, merchant services, trust and retirement services, comprehensive wealth advisory services, asset management and capital markets services. The company was founded on December 6, 2019 and is headquartered in Charlotte, NC.