Moody’s upgrades Zions, ZB

Moody's Investors Service said it upgraded certain ratings of Zions Bancorporation and its bank subsidiary, ZB, NA.

Zions' senior unsecured rating was upgraded to provisional Baa3 from provisional Ba1 and the noncumulative preferred stock was upgraded to Ba2 (hyb) from Ba3 (hyb).

At ZB, N.A., the standalone baseline credit assessment (BCA) was upgraded to baa2 from baa3, the long-term deposit rating was upgraded to A3 from Baa1, the issuer rating was upgraded to Baa3 from Ba1 and the counterparty risk assessment (CR assessment) was upgraded to Baa1 (cr) from Baa2 (cr).

The bank's Prime-2 short-term deposit rating and Prime-2 (cr) short-term CR assessment were affirmed.

Following the upgrade, the outlook is stable.

Zions' stronger financial profile, particularly in the areas of asset risk and profitability, prompted the upgrade, Moody’s said.

Zions has materially reduced its former asset concentrations, which should lessen future earnings volatility and makes it better able to defend its current strong asset quality performance.

These improvements benefit Zions' credit profile that is also supported by strong funding and solid capital ratios. The agency said these credit attributes help offset the bank's above-average energy exposure.

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