Head to Head Comparison: Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) versus Plumas Bancorp (NASDAQ:PLBC)

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Plumas Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	1	15	5	1	2.27
Plumas Bancorp	0	0	4	0	3.00

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. currently has a consensus price target of $61.45, indicating a potential upside of 7.94%. Plumas Bancorp has a consensus price target of $58.00, indicating a potential upside of 36.60%. Given Plumas Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Plumas Bancorp is more favorable than Zions Bancorporation, N.A..

Risk & Volatility

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its stock price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Plumas Bancorp has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Plumas Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Plumas Bancorp pays out 24.7% 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 and Plumas Bancorp has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of Plumas Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	16.98%	13.76%	0.97%
Plumas Bancorp	30.81%	15.71%	1.78%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Plumas Bancorp”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$4.99 billion	1.68	$784.00 million	$5.47	10.41
Plumas Bancorp	$93.11 million	3.17	$28.62 million	$4.85	8.75

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has higher revenue and earnings than Plumas Bancorp. Plumas Bancorp 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.

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats Plumas Bancorp on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Plumas Bancorp

Plumas Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for the Plumas Bank that provides various banking products and services for small and middle market businesses, and individuals in Northeastern California and Northwestern Nevada. The company accepts various deposits, such as checking, money market checking, business sweep, public funds sweep, savings, time deposit, and retirement accounts. Its loan portfolio comprises of term real estate, commercial, and industrial term loans; government-guaranteed and agricultural loans, as well as credit lines; consumer, automobile, and home equity loans; land development and construction loans; and small business administration loans. In addition, the company provides remote deposit, telephone and mobile banking, internet banking with bill-pay options, cashier's check, bank-by-mail, automated teller machine, night depository, safe deposit box, direct deposit, electronic funds transfer, and other customary banking services. Plumas Bancorp was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.