First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

First Busey Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $26.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.45 and its 200 day moving average is $24.27. First Busey has a 12 month low of $17.51 and a 12 month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.10%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 19th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management increased its position in shares of First Busey by 5.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,686,000 after buying an additional 72,800 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Busey by 3,072.7% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 34,900 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 33,800 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of First Busey by 22.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,895,000 after buying an additional 212,782 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in First Busey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its holdings in First Busey by 14.7% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares during the period. 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.