Intech Investment Management LLC Buys 14,022 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 162.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,635 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 14,022 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,498,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in First Busey by 168.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after acquiring an additional 93,733 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 81.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after acquiring an additional 60,506 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 442.2% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 72,438 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 59,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in First Busey by 193.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 85,027 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 56,073 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. The trade was a 0.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE stock opened at $22.41 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey Co. has a 12 month low of $21.21 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.74.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.76%.

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.