First Busey Corporation $BUSE Stock Holdings Lifted by Rhumbline Advisers

Key Points

• Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in First Busey Corporation by 50.3% during the 1st quarter, owning approximately 127,748 shares worth around $2.76 million.
• First Busey Corporation reported earnings of $0.63 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, yielding 4.1% annually.
• Institutional investors own roughly 56.49% of First Busey stock, with significant increases in holdings by firms such as Vanguard and Dimensional Fund Advisors.

Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 50.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,748 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 42,751 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.14% of First Busey worth $2,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Busey by 52.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank's stock valued at $101,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,848 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in First Busey by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank's stock worth $110,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,262 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter worth $19,861,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Busey by 648.8% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 918,907 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,848,000 after acquiring an additional 796,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in First Busey during the 1st quarter worth $16,837,000. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Friday, August 29th. 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. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 price target on the stock. Three research 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 company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.33.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $25.14. The stock had a trading volume of 539,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,596. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.54. First Busey Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's payout ratio is 89.29%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 86,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,135,230.80. This represents a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.25 per share, for a total transaction of $25,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,500 shares of company stock worth $157,175 over the last 90 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.