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

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

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on UMBF. Citigroup started coverage on shares of UMB Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $127.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on UMB Financial from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on UMB Financial from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on UMB Financial from $118.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.00.

UMB Financial Price Performance

Shares of UMBF opened at $125.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 0.78. UMB Financial has a 1-year low of $69.96 and a 1-year high of $128.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.37.

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

UMB Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 payout ratio is presently 19.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in UMB Financial by 9.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,705,385 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $409,321,000 after purchasing an additional 394,578 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of UMB Financial by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,954,762 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $163,066,000 after buying an additional 49,690 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UMB Financial by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,752,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $146,196,000 after acquiring an additional 111,090 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in UMB Financial by 6.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,689,895 shares of the bank’s stock worth $140,968,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $117,139,000 after purchasing an additional 21,091 shares during the period. 87.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.