First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target Cut to $29.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $30.00 to $29.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the bank's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.54% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a research report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.17.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $23.47. The company had a trading volume of 220,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 528,353. 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 has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The firm has a market cap of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $23.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.58.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 9.76%. The business had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.91 million. On average, analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Steven W. Caple bought 1,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. This represents a 35.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $119,350.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 13,125 shares of company stock worth $286,148. 3.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BUSE. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Busey by 1,173.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in First Busey by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in First Busey by 193.7% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 85,027 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,004,000 after purchasing an additional 56,073 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in First Busey by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 45,324 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in First Busey by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 27,185 shares of the bank's stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 14,498 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company's stock.

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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