First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Busey has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.75.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE stock opened at $24.21 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.85. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $25.80.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $110.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.06 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.37% and a net margin of 18.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.36, for a total transaction of $51,428.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 139,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,126,017.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 2.6% during the third quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 35,220 shares of the bank’s stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 880 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,606 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 48,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 2,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in First Busey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.