First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Short Interest Up 33.9% in October

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, an increase of 33.9% from the October 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 333,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

First Busey Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BUSE stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $26.63. 124,527 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 228,208. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.89. First Busey has a 12-month low of $20.67 and a 12-month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $170.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.32 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 16.94%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of First Busey by 1.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 87,257 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 8.8% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 15,889 shares of the bank’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 257.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of First Busey by 10.0% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,866 shares of the bank’s stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BUSE. Stephens lowered shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Busey Bank that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services to individual, corporate, institutional, and governmental customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Banking, Wealth Management, and FirsTech.