UMB Financial Co. (NASDAQ:UMBF) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

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

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on UMB Financial in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They set a "sector perform" rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on UMB Financial in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on UMB Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $127.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of UMB Financial from $123.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of UMB Financial from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J Mariner Kemper sold 24,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.81, for a total transaction of $2,473,983.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,600,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,988,036.24. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Robert Brian Beaird sold 854 shares of UMB Financial 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 directly owns 5,828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 74,603 shares of company stock valued at $8,353,950. 8.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of UMB Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in UMB Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of UMB Financial by 31.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 431 shares of the bank's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of UMB Financial during the third quarter worth $83,000. Acropolis Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UMB Financial in the third quarter valued at about $156,000. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP bought a new position in UMB Financial during the third quarter worth about $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.78% of the company's stock.

UMB Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UMBF traded up $1.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $114.61. 1,091,254 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,565. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.12. UMB Financial has a 52 week low of $76.00 and a 52 week high of $129.94. 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 cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 0.80.

UMB Financial (NASDAQ:UMBF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.05. UMB Financial had a net margin of 14.44% and a return on equity of 13.80%. The company had revenue of $716.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $398.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that UMB Financial will post 9.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UMB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from UMB Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. UMB Financial's payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

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.