Oak Valley Bancorp (NASDAQ:OVLY) vs. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (NASDAQ:ZION) Head-To-Head Analysis

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

Dividends

Oak Valley Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Oak Valley Bancorp pays out 20.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Zions Bancorporation, N.A. pays out 32.9% 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. Oak Valley Bancorp has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years and 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.

Risk & Volatility

Oak Valley Bancorp has a beta of 0.45, indicating that its share price is 55% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its share price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Oak Valley Bancorp and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Oak Valley Bancorp	$89.45 million	2.63	$24.95 million	$2.93	9.59
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	$4.99 billion	1.74	$784.00 million	$5.47	10.73

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

30.9% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. shares are owned by institutional investors. 18.1% of Oak Valley Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Zions Bancorporation, N.A. 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 Oak Valley Bancorp and Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Oak Valley Bancorp	26.38%	13.12%	1.27%
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	16.98%	13.76%	0.97%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Oak Valley Bancorp and Zions Bancorporation, N.A., as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Oak Valley Bancorp	0	0	0	0	0.00
Zions Bancorporation, N.A.	1	13	4	1	2.26

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. has a consensus target price of $60.95, suggesting a potential upside of 3.83%. Given Zions Bancorporation, N.A.’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Zions Bancorporation, N.A. is more favorable than Oak Valley Bancorp.

Summary

Zions Bancorporation, N.A. beats Oak Valley Bancorp on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Oak Valley Bancorp

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company's deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also offers commercial real estate loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including automobile loans, home mortgages, credit lines, and other personal loans. In addition, the company provides online and mobile banking, remote deposit capture, merchant, night depository, extended hours, wire transfer of funds, note collection services, and automated teller machines. The company was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Oakdale, California.

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.