Jump Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC has increased its holdings in First Busey Corporation by 47.2%, owning approximately $989,000 worth of stock after acquiring an additional 14,686 shares.
• Insider trading activity includes a purchase of 2,500 shares by Director Karen M. Jensen and 1,000 shares by CFO Scott A. Phillips, indicating a strong insider confidence in the company.
• First Busey announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, reflecting a 4.0% yield, with a total annualized dividend of $1.00.

Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 47.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,790 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 14,686 shares during the quarter. Jump Financial LLC owned approximately 0.08% of First Busey worth $989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $101,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,848 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank's stock valued at $110,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,262 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 1st quarter valued at $19,861,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake 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

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BUSE. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Hovde Group assumed coverage on 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. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, First Busey presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

First Busey Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of First Busey stock traded down $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $24.43. 163,169 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 520,599. The company has a fifty day moving average of $23.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.51. First Busey Corporation has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 9.48%.The business had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid 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 of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is 89.29%.

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.