Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires New Shares in First Busey Corporation $BUSE

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired 61,488 shares of First Busey Corporation, valued at approximately $1,499,000, increasing their ownership to about 0.07% as per their recent SEC filing.
• Chief Financial Officer Scott A. Phillips and Director Karen M. Jensen both bought shares of First Busey stock in August and September, indicating confidence in the company's performance.
• First Busey Corporation recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, which represents an annualized yield of 4.3% with a payout ratio of 89.29%.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 61,488 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,499,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.07% of First Busey at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Busey by 71.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 60,886 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,315,000 after acquiring an additional 25,458 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in First Busey by 50.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 127,748 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,759,000 after purchasing an additional 42,751 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in First Busey in the first quarter valued at about $460,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in First Busey by 726.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,280 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in First Busey in the first quarter valued at about $7,737,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, CFO Scott A. Phillips bought 1,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $25,250. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 3,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.60 per share, with a total value of $73,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 86,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,135,230.80. This trade represents a 3.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 6,500 shares of company stock valued at $157,175 over the last three months. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Busey Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $23.50 on Tuesday. First Busey Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.30. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.98 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.66. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. As a group, analysts forecast that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. First Busey's payout ratio is presently 89.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. DA Davidson lifted 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. Finally, Hovde Group began coverage on First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $27.33.

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.

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