First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target Increased to $29.00 by Analysts at DA Davidson

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its target price raised by DA Davidson from $28.00 to $29.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an outperform rating and set a $31.00 price target (up from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $28.00.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $27.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.86. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $17.51 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The firm had revenue of $116.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. On average, analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $389,328.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 264 shares of company stock valued at $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares valued at $536,477. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in First Busey by 397.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,660 shares of the bank’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,515 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 30,171 shares of the bank’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 2,579 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 21.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,739,000 after buying an additional 19,831 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 58.7% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 55,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,341,000 after buying an additional 20,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 28.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 386,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,351,000 after acquiring an additional 86,492 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.