Comparing Summit State Bank (NASDAQ:SSBI) and Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION)

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) and Summit State Bank (NASDAQ:SSBI) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Summit State Bank”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$4.99 billion	1.78	$784.00 million	$5.58	10.79
Summit State Bank	$35.97 million	2.35	-$3.66 million	($0.13)	-95.92

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has higher revenue and earnings than Summit State Bank. Summit State Bank 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Summit State Bank, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	1	14	5	2	2.36
Summit State Bank	1	0	0	0	1.00

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. presently has a consensus target price of $61.16, suggesting a potential upside of 1.54%. Given Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is more favorable than Summit State Bank.

Dividends

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Summit State Bank pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Summit State Bank pays out -123.1% 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 raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Volatility & Risk

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Summit State Bank has a beta of 0.18, indicating that its stock price is 82% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Zions Bancorporation, N.A. and Summit State Bank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	17.22%	13.56%	0.98%
Summit State Bank	-1.41%	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats Summit State Bank on 16 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 Summit State Bank

Summit State Bank engages in providing an array of financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, their owners and employees, entrepreneurs, high net worth families, foundations, estates, and individual consumers. It specializes in business services, personal accounts, nonprofit programs, and mobile banking ranging from lending, checking, merchant, eBanking, automated teller machines, equity loans, and others. The company was founded on December 20, 1982 and is headquartered in Santa Rosa, CA.