First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock Moved Down to "Sell" by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded First Busey to “sell” from “hold,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with an average price target of $31.00.
• First Busey reported quarterly EPS of $0.63, missing estimates of $0.67, while revenue of $194.25 million was slightly below expectations of $195.77 million.
• The stock opened at $28.81, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.38 billion; institutional investors own 56.49% of outstanding shares, while insiders have sold shares totaling about $130,627 over the past 90 days.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on BUSE. Zacks Research cut First Busey from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Piper Sandler lowered First Busey from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. DA Davidson increased their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

First Busey stock opened at $28.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Busey has a 1-year low of $22.12 and a 1-year high of $31.70.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.04). First Busey had a net margin of 21.13% and a return on equity of 10.29%. The firm had revenue of $194.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.77 million. On average, analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.12, for a total transaction of $41,961.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 128,571 shares in the company, valued at $3,743,987.52. This represents a 1.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,323 shares of company stock worth $130,627 in the last 90 days. 3.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First Busey by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,067,210 shares of the bank's stock worth $128,046,000 after buying an additional 194,343 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the second quarter worth $32,712,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 101.3% in the first quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 492,113 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,436,000 after acquiring an additional 247,589 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 16.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 475,547 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,017,000 after acquiring an additional 65,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 13.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 301,323 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,614,000 after acquiring an additional 36,140 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

About First Busey

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Through its banking and wealth management businesses, the company serves individuals, families, businesses and institutions with a range of financial products and services.

Its principal banking subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides consumer and commercial checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages, treasury management and other deposit and lending services. First Busey also offers investment management, trust, retirement planning, financial planning and brokerage services through its wealth management operations.

First Busey traces its banking roots to 1868 and primarily serves customers in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Florida, with additional markets following its combination with CrossFirst Bankshares.

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