UMB Financial: A Compressed Valuation Should Grind Higher Over The Medium Term (NASDAQ:UMBF)

Investment Thesis
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, UMB Financial Corporation (UMBF) is the $29.7 billion asset holding company for UMB Bank. Formally known as United Missouri Bank, UMBF is a commercial-oriented Midwestern bank. While its runs a fairly branch-lite model, UMBF has 95 branches located throughout Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Arizona and Texas.
UMB Financial, along with its sibling bank, Commerce Bancshares (OTC:CBSH), both have a storied century-long history of being run by the Kemper family. With that being said, I have a lot of faith in Mariner Kemper, the current CEO, and his ability to lead the franchise. He has led the bank for more than 15 years and helped grow assets from $8.2 billion to where they are today.
Today, my bullish stance is predicated on a couple of factors. I think the valuation is too low for such a well-run franchise; however, valuation alone does