HighTower Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 22,244 First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in First Busey Corporation, purchasing 22,244 shares valued at approximately $480,000.
• Equity analysts have varied views on First Busey, with three rating it as a Buy and three as a Hold, while the consensus target price stands at $27.33.
• First Busey recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting a 4.0% dividend yield and an annualized payout of $1.00.

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 22,244 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $480,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in First Busey by 507.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 56.4% during 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. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of First Busey by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 59.3% during 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 during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.25 per share, with a total value of $25,250.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 1,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,250. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $58,125.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,942,956. This represents a 3.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

BUSE stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.42. The stock had a trading volume of 145,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 520,410. The stock's 50 day moving average is $23.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.51. 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77 and a beta of 0.82.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $27.33.

About First Busey

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.