Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $567,000 Holdings in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. significantly increased its stake in First Busey Corporation by 2,213.0%, owning 26,253 shares worth approximately $567,000 as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have mixed views on First Busey, with price targets ranging from $25.00 to $29.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on several upgrades and downgrades.
• First Busey declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%, with a payout ratio of 89.29% of earnings.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) by 2,213.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,253 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 25,118 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in First Busey were worth $567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 23.7% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in First Busey by 2.6% in the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,069 shares of the bank's stock worth $455,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank's stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,881 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

First Busey Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of First Busey stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.45. 153,975 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 520,531. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.51. First Busey Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.30. 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 (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Equities research analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $23.25 per share, with a total value of $58,125.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 83,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,956. This represents a 3.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.25 per share, for a total transaction of $25,250.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,250. This trade represents a ∞ 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price (up from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Friday, August 29th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.