Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Position in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 193.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,027 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,073 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in First Busey were worth $2,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 2.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,997 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of First Busey by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Busey by 1.1% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 121,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $21.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.38 and a 200-day moving average of $24.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey Co. has a 52 week low of $21.21 and a 52 week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.10% 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.