Insider Buying: First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Director Acquires 3,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Karen Jensen, a director at First Busey Corporation, purchased 3,000 shares at an average price of $24.60, increasing her ownership by 3.58% and bringing her total shares to 86,798, valued at over $2.1 million.
• First Busey recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25, yielding 4.1%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 89.29%.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Dimensional Fund Advisors, have significantly increased their stakes in First Busey, reflecting growing confidence in the company's prospects.

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.60 per share, with a total value of $73,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 86,798 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,135,230.80. This trade represents a 3.58% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,430,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,956. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $23.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.56. First Busey Corporation has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.30.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 9.48%.The firm had revenue of $192.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $193.91 million. Equities analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BUSE has been the subject of several research reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Busey presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in First Busey by 23.7% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in First Busey by 2.6% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,069 shares of the bank's stock valued at $455,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 20,633 shares of the bank's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.6% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,965 shares of the bank's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 5.1% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 13,237 shares of the bank's stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.