UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a decline of 19.0% from the February 28th total of 2,000,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 723,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at UMB Financial

In other news, Director Kevin Charles Gallagher sold 527 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.13, for a total transaction of $60,146.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,484,831.30. This trade represents a 3.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO J Mariner Kemper sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.61, for a total value of $380,135.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 334,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,313,427.67. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UMB Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in UMB Financial by 767.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 18,817 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of UMB Financial by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 4,182 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of UMB Financial by 403.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 866,848 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,114,000 after buying an additional 694,751 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of UMB Financial by 107.8% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UMB Financial by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,114,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,139,000 after acquiring an additional 21,091 shares during the last quarter. 87.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UMBF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on UMB Financial from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded UMB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of UMB Financial in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of UMB Financial from $156.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of UMB Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, UMB Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.71.

UMB Financial Stock Down 1.6 %

UMB Financial stock opened at $100.19 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $109.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.52. UMB Financial has a 1-year low of $76.00 and a 1-year high of $129.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.24. UMB Financial had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 15.76%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that UMB Financial will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UMB Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. UMB Financial’s payout ratio is currently 17.80%.

UMB Financial Company Profile

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.