First Busey Corporation $BUSE Shares Bought by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Busey Corporation by 45.6%, acquiring 1,596,262 additional shares, bringing its total to over 5 million shares valued at approximately $110 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their holdings in First Busey this quarter, with a total of 56.49% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• First Busey announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, representing a 4.1% dividend yield, while the company reported earnings of $0.63 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 45.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,096,605 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 1,596,262 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 8.95% of First Busey worth $110,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2,213.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,253 shares of the bank's stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 25,118 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $480,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $16,837,000. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $15,301,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 4,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $88,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 76,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,496. The trade was a 5.55% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.25 per share, with a total value of $25,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 7,950 shares of company stock valued at $181,163. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group started coverage on First Busey in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.17.

First Busey Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $24.69. 456,431 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,505. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Busey Corporation has a 12 month low of $18.40 and a 12 month high of $28.30. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.53.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.91 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

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.