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

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

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in First Busey by 507.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.20 on Thursday, reaching $21.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 420,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,019. First Busey has a 12-month low of $18.40 and a 12-month high of $28.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.75. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. 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 4.63%. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.