First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.80.

First Busey Trading Up 1.9%

BUSE traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $22.01. The stock had a trading volume of 69,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 491,032. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $21.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey has a 52 week low of $18.40 and a 52 week high of $28.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. On average, equities analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at $10,390,173.75. This trade represents a 0.42% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,596,262 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,613,848 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 54.2% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,731,366 shares of the bank's stock worth $37,398,000 after purchasing an additional 608,470 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,309,057 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,276,000 after purchasing an additional 93,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of First Busey by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 937,591 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,252,000 after purchasing an additional 230,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.