First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $21.59 and last traded at $21.95, with a volume of 15563 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.92.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens lowered shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Busey Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.49 and a 200-day moving average of $25.64.

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. As a group, analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,937,000 after buying an additional 163,042 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 168.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,884,000 after buying an additional 93,733 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 386,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,351,000 after buying an additional 86,492 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 211.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 100,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,627,000 after buying an additional 68,585 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after buying an additional 60,506 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.