Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION)

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Zions-shares-drop-on-loan-apf-1999392508.html?x=0&.v=1

valuation

YTD return: 60%. Working hard on solidifying their balance sheets. Not losing AS MUCH money as they have been...

ONLY WILL GO HIGHER LOVE THIS STOCK

Insider buying is big. They must know something. ALso the co is raising cash like crazy, Look for a nice dividend to be reinstated.

undervalued. Worst of the banking is behind us. Regional banks will benefit from regulations. No where to go but up.

I was with this company until the beggining of 2008 as a Commercial Loan officer. The construction loan group was run mostly by folks who had a lot of experience in commercial lending, but little in A&D and residential construction. That is where they took it in the shorts. This stock was over $80 in 2007 and went down to single digits in 2009. Now it seems to be range bound between about 10 and 20. Unfortunately I still have a lot of Zions stock and plan to bail on at least half if it breaks $20, although I don't totally disagree with the comment that it is probably a 40 to $45 dollar stock with in 2 to 5 years due to their footprint and market presence with in that footprint, I just need to diversify a little.

Due to their strategy to earn their way to a reasonable capital structure rather than merely dilute their shareholders. Additionally, the markets that they operate in are relatively solid in part due to their acquisition of Amegy bank several years back...

The CEO was on Mad Money with Jim Cramer today, he said that he has been buying back a couple of millions dollars worth of shares. He also said that the book value of the stock is somewhere closer to $20..I agree and look for this stock to be trading around $20

Zions Bank is a strong regional bank, but just like all the other major banks it got caught up in the mortgage crisis. It will take two to three years to dig itself out, but this stock will be back in the $45 dollar range.

safe and smart pick for me

ZION has an illiquid balance sheet and a too high valuation compared to its sales potential. It is also one of the most loss making companies at least until 2011. It may go bankrupt.

* See Reggie's analysis
* Heavy short interest
* #10 on Commercial Real Estate loans list
* D grade from Hillbent.com
* have more than a third of their loans in commercial real estate and construction, a particularly vulnerable type of debt now that many building companies have no work
* One of the most exposed to owners needing to refinance
* The largest short bet among the smaller banks is Zions Bancorp (Nasdaq:ZION), where 27% of the outstanding shares are sold short, as of September 15, 2009. Its total of 33.7 million shares sold short is up 10% from the beginning of September, and would take nearly six days to cover.

Financial stocks carry a P/E ratio of 22.4, and the so-called "recovery" has been especially strong in bank stocks. Therefore, I’m concentrating my shorting interest in the banking sector.

17% rise in NPL's...and this one quote from the conference call "further property declines lead to dollar-to-dollar write offs (in AZ and NV)"

That was a few weeks ago, and from newly released data we know property values are continuing to drop.

mid mkt banks set to rise when economy bounces

ZION owns 50 billion in real estate.

This company has exposure in all the worst geographies to real estate and commerical loans. Were it not for programs like TARP and TALF this company very likely would have faced insolvency.

Banks borrow money from the Fed. @ 0 percent and make loans @ 5-11 percent. Do the math!