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

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

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of First Busey stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 80,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,703. First Busey has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.75. The business's 50-day moving average price is $21.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Equities analysts forecast that First Busey 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, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey's payout ratio is 93.46%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,462,503.10. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,115,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Busey by 121.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 565,001 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,317,000 after acquiring an additional 309,301 shares during the last quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the first quarter valued at about $5,162,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,498,000. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust purchased a new position in First Busey during the fourth quarter worth about $4,850,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

First Busey Company 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.