First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives $26.33 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $26.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BUSE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (down from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday.

First Busey Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $23.16 on Thursday. First Busey has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 11.00%. Equities analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Scott A. Phillips acquired 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.64 per share, with a total value of $34,614.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,254. This trade represents a 135.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 3,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 86,798 shares in the company, valued at $2,135,230.80. This represents a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 5,350 shares of company stock valued at $133,664 in the last ninety days. 3.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in First Busey by 94.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,135,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $165,196,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464,965 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Busey by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613,848 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,262 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $19,861,000. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the second quarter valued at $20,113,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Company Profile

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.