UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $124.00.

UMBF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on UMB Financial in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of UMB Financial in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of UMB Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $127.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of UMB Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

UMB Financial Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:UMBF traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $117.63. The stock had a trading volume of 322,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,488. UMB Financial has a twelve month low of $76.00 and a twelve month high of $129.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70 and a beta of 0.82.

UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $716.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.83 million. UMB Financial had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 13.80%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UMB Financial will post 9.23 EPS for the current year.

UMB Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is an increase from UMB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. UMB Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UMB Financial

In related news, CEO J Mariner Kemper sold 24,300 shares of UMB Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.95, for a total value of $3,036,285.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,552,304 shares in the company, valued at $193,960,384.80. This trade represents a 1.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Brian Beaird sold 854 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.38, for a total transaction of $105,366.52. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 5,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $719,058.64. The trade was a 12.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,303 shares of company stock worth $5,879,967. 8.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of UMB Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in UMB Financial by 767.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,269 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,236,000 after purchasing an additional 18,817 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $91,114,000 after buying an additional 694,751 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of UMB Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,286,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in UMB Financial by 229.6% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 47,116 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,952,000 after acquiring an additional 32,820 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.78% of the company's stock.

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.