First Busey Corporation (BUSE) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

BUSE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded First Busey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $29.24 on Thursday. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $22.12 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The stock has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.84 and a 200-day moving average of $27.93. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by ($0.04). First Busey had a net margin of 21.13% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The business had revenue of $194.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.77 million. As a group, analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 23rd were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 23rd. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.45%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $41,961.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,743,987.52. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 4,323 shares of company stock worth $130,627 over the last ninety days. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in First Busey by 45.5% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 142,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after buying an additional 44,551 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,743,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 16.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 475,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,017,000 after buying an additional 65,745 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the second quarter worth approximately $32,712,000. Finally, Rhino Investment Partners Inc boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 101.3% during the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 492,113 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,436,000 after buying an additional 247,589 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Through its banking and wealth management businesses, the company serves individuals, families, businesses and institutions with a range of financial products and services.

Its principal banking subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides consumer and commercial checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages, treasury management and other deposit and lending services. First Busey also offers investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and brokerage services through its wealth management operations.

First Busey traces its banking roots to 1868 and primarily serves customers in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Florida, with additional markets following its combination with CrossFirst Bankshares.