Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Position in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

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 lifted its position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 50.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,748 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 42,751 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.14% of First Busey worth $2,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the first quarter worth $43,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in First Busey by 56.4% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in First Busey by 726.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in First Busey by 23.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its position in First Busey by 59.3% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,881 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BUSE has been the subject of several research reports. 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 initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.25 per share, for a total transaction of $25,250.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,250. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 3,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.60 per share, for a total transaction of $73,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 86,798 shares in the company, valued at $2,135,230.80. The trade was a 3.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 6,500 shares of company stock worth $157,175. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE stock traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $24.74. 2,430,787 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 458,956. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 0.82. First Busey Corporation has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 predict 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's payout ratio is currently 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.