Financial Counselors Inc. Purchases New Position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 31,263 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $675,000. Financial Counselors Inc. owned 0.05% of First Busey at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in First Busey by 161.1% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 507.5% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE traded down $0.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $23.96. 321,810 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,013. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.55. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 8.32%. The company had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BUSE. Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler assumed 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 on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $27.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 76,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,496. This trade represents a 5.55% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Steven W. Caple purchased 1,175 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 13,125 shares of company stock worth $286,148 over the last ninety days. 3.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.