Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Stake in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

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 raised its position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 45.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,096,605 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 1,596,262 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 8.95% of First Busey worth $110,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 52.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank's stock valued at $101,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613,848 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in First Busey by 7.7% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,309,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,276,000 after purchasing an additional 93,600 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 32.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 937,591 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,252,000 after purchasing an additional 230,268 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at $16,837,000. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $15,301,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BUSE shares. DA Davidson lifted their target price on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In related news, CFO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.25 per share, with a total value of $25,250.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $22.00 per share, for a total transaction of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 76,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,496. This trade represents a 5.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 8,950 shares of company stock valued at $203,163. 3.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 564,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,297. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.50. First Busey Corporation has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The business had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.91 million. On average, 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. First Busey's payout ratio is 89.29%.

First Busey 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.