: Janney cuts Zions Bancorp rating to neutral from buy on accelerated funding costs

Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tim Coffey on Thursday downgraded Zions Bancorp ZION to neutral from buy on the heels of the bank’s mid-quarter update earlier this week. Coffey said the bank now expects a “substantial” increase in funding costs, a shift in deposits toward more interest-bearing products, and lower net interest income. “The update was worse than what we had anticipated, and we estimate that these trends could persist for several more quarters, resulting in lower spread income and earnings,” Coffey said. Janney no longer expects Zions to buy back about $25 million in stock per quarter in 2024 “due to expectations of slower earnings growth this year.” Zions stock is down 1.4% in premarket trades Thursday.

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