Karen Jensen Purchases 3,000 Shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) 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 Jensen acquired 3,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.60 per share, with a total value of $73,800.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

First Busey Price Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE traded down $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $24.22. 147,324 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 515,933. The stock has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First Busey Corporation has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $28.30. The firm's 50-day moving average is $23.74 and its 200-day moving average is $22.52.

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

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. First Busey's dividend payout ratio is currently 89.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,613,848 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 45.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank's stock valued at $110,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,262 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Busey during the first quarter worth about $19,861,000. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in First Busey during the second quarter worth about $20,113,000. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 648.8% in the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 918,907 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,848,000 after purchasing an additional 796,197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Busey from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $27.33.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.