T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 919,448 First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. has acquired a new stake in First Busey Corporation, purchasing 919,448 shares valued at approximately $19.86 million, representing around 1.61% of the company's total shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Wells Fargo and Barclays, have increased their holdings in First Busey, with institutional ownership totaling 56.49% of the stock.
• First Busey recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share with a yield of 4.1%, and reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations by $0.02 per share.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 919,448 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $19,861,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 1.61% of First Busey at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake in First Busey by 507.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter worth about $43,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 56.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of First Busey by 23.7% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 59.3% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 2,881 shares of the bank's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BUSE has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson upped their target price on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group began coverage on First Busey in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Finally, 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. Three investment 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 company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.33.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $58,125.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 83,568 shares in the company, valued at $1,942,956. This trade represents a 3.08% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,250. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 3,950 shares of company stock worth $93,163 over the last three months. 3.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $24.70. The stock had a trading volume of 505,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,278. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $23.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.51. 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 twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05 and a beta of 0.81.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. First Busey had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 8.76%. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. First Busey's 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.