Lee Financial Co Makes New $248,000 Investment in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

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Lee Financial Co purchased a new position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 11,503 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in First Busey by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 41,443 shares of the bank's stock worth $977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 156,570 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,691,000 after purchasing an additional 21,501 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 31,104 shares of the bank's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 16,604 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank's stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 76,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,673,496. The trade was a 5.55% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips acquired 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 8,950 shares of company stock valued at $203,163 over the last ninety days. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BUSE. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.17.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE traded up $0.98 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.17. 812,021 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 464,438. The company has a market cap of $2.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $23.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.50. First Busey Corporation has a 1 year low of $18.40 and a 1 year 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 posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $192.05 million during 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.