Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. Acquires New Position in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. has acquired a new position in First Busey Corporation, purchasing 22,000 shares valued at approximately $475,000, indicating growing institutional interest in the bank.
• Analyst ratings for First Busey show mixed reviews, with target price adjustments ranging from $23.00 to $30.00, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• First Busey announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 4.1%, reflecting the company's commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,000 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $475,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in First Busey by 121.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 565,001 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,317,000 after purchasing an additional 309,301 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in First Busey by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,881 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter worth about $263,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter worth about $372,000. Finally, Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in First Busey in the 1st quarter worth about $1,081,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on BUSE. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, CFO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.25 per share, for a total transaction of $25,250.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 2,500 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $58,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,942,956. This represents a 3.08% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 8,950 shares of company stock valued at $203,163 over the last 90 days. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Busey Trading Up 2.2%

First Busey stock opened at $24.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.81. First Busey Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.91 million. First Busey had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 8.76%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.29%.

First Busey Company 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.

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