Brokerages Set First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target at $27.80

Shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.80.

BUSE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.60 per share, with a total value of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 5,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $119,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 72,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,563,875.60. This trade represents a 8.26% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 13,125 shares of company stock worth $286,148. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 84,997 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,498,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in First Busey by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 42,502 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Busey by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 707,323 shares of the bank's stock worth $16,672,000 after purchasing an additional 12,879 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

First Busey Trading Up 1.1%

BUSE traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $22.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 533,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 387,592. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.80. First Busey has a 52-week low of $18.40 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.46%. The business had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.46%.

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.