MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 17,717 Shares of First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in First Busey Corporation by 54.4% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 17,717 shares, bringing its total ownership to 50,269 shares valued at approximately $1,086,000.
• First Busey recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.63 for the last quarter, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $0.61, although its revenue came in slightly below estimates at $192.05 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share with a yield of 4.0%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 89.29%.

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 54.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,269 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 17,717 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of First Busey worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,069 shares of the bank's stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 20,633 shares of the bank's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 56.4% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank's stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at First Busey

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

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $24.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 22.12 and a beta of 0.82. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $23.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Busey Corporation has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.30.

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

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BUSE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group assumed 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 for the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Friday, August 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

First Busey 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.

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