UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) Coverage Initiated at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $156.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on UMBF. Barclays upped their target price on UMB Financial from $118.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of UMB Financial from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of UMB Financial from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of UMB Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $127.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, UMB Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.00.

UMB Financial Price Performance

Shares of UMBF stock opened at $125.00 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. UMB Financial has a one year low of $69.96 and a one year high of $128.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.78.

UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.05. UMB Financial had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 13.80%. The firm had revenue of $716.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UMB Financial will post 9.21 EPS for the current year.

UMB Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from UMB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. UMB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.50%.

Insider Transactions at UMB Financial

In other UMB Financial news, Director Greg M. Graves bought 258 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $109.29 per share, with a total value of $28,196.82. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,244 shares in the company, valued at $3,961,106.76. This trade represents a 0.72 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Brian Beaird sold 854 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.38, for a total transaction of $105,366.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $719,058.64. This trade represents a 12.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,303 shares of company stock valued at $5,830,165 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UMB Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in UMB Financial by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,705,385 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $409,321,000 after acquiring an additional 394,578 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of UMB Financial by 2.6% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,954,762 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $163,066,000 after purchasing an additional 49,690 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UMB Financial by 6.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,752,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,196,000 after purchasing an additional 111,090 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of UMB Financial by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,689,895 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $140,968,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in UMB Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,251 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,139,000 after buying an additional 21,091 shares in the last quarter. 87.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About UMB Financial

UMB Financial Corporation operates as the bank holding company that provides banking services and asset servicing in the United States and internationally. The Commercial Banking segment provides commercial loans and credit card; commercial real estate financing; letters of credit; loan syndication, and consultative service; various business solutions including asset-based lending, mezzanine debt, and minority equity investment; and treasury management service, such as depository service, account reconciliation, cash management tool, accounts payable and receivable solution, electronic fund transfer and automated payment, controlled disbursement, lockbox service, and remote deposit capture service.