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

Shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.67.

BUSE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Busey in a report on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 5,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased 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 owned 72,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,563,875.60. This represents a 8.26% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Steven W. Caple purchased 1,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 13,125 shares of company stock worth $286,148. Insiders own 3.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in First Busey during the first quarter worth $19,861,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Busey by 648.8% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 918,907 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,848,000 after buying an additional 796,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in First Busey during the first quarter worth $16,837,000. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE stock opened at $24.26 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.56. First Busey has a 12 month low of $18.40 and a 12 month high of $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. Equities research analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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