First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.80.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BUSE shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $22.30 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.50 and a 200-day moving average of $22.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 0.78. First Busey has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 72,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,563,875.60. The trade was a 8.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 13,125 shares of company stock valued at $286,148. Insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 45.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank's stock worth $110,086,000 after buying an additional 1,596,262 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 52.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank's stock worth $101,670,000 after buying an additional 1,613,848 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 54.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,731,366 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,398,000 after buying an additional 608,470 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 7.7% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,309,057 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,276,000 after buying an additional 93,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 32.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 937,591 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,252,000 after buying an additional 230,268 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.