James Abbott, a Senior Vice President at
Zions Bancorp (ZION), recently added 2,500 shares. The buy increased his stake by 3 percent, and came to a total cost of just over $126,000.
Abbott was the last company insider to make a buy, with a 10,000 share pickup back in May, at a price about 10 percent higher than where shares now trade. Overall, insiders at the bank have been sellers over the past three years.
Insiders at the bank own 1.6 percent of shares.
The stock is down about 25 percent in the past year, even as earnings have only shrunk by about 10 percent. Revenue has held up well, and the bank has a profit margin of nearly 29 percent, above the industry average in general.
Action to take: Shares are fairly inexpensive at 9 times forward earnings. Zion is worth accumulating near current prices, and the company pays a dividend of 3.2 percent with a history of growth in the payout that can reward patient investors over time.
For traders, shares seems to have bottomed out in the high-$40 to low-$50 range. From here, a further rally in the months ahead is likely. The April 2023 $60 calls, last going for about $1.40, offer high-double-digit return potential in the months ahead on a bounce higher in shares.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.