Invesco Ltd. Purchases 70,132 Shares of First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in First Busey Corporation by 57.3%, acquiring 70,132 additional shares, bringing its total ownership to 192,487 shares valued at approximately $4.16 million.
• Several large institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab Investment Management, also raised their holdings in First Busey during the same quarter, reflecting a growing confidence in the bank's prospects.
• First Busey announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, yielding an annualized dividend of $1.00, with a payout ratio of 89.29% as of the latest dividend payment to shareholders.

Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 57.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,487 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 70,132 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.34% of First Busey worth $4,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 47.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 164,800 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 53,001 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 52.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 70,283 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 24,307 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 32.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 937,591 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,252,000 after purchasing an additional 230,268 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 52.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank's stock worth $101,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, CFO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,250. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $58,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 83,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,942,956. The trade was a 3.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.51. The company had a trading volume of 266,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 521,074. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock's 50-day moving average is $23.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88 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.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $192.05 million for 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, analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group started coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.