Brokerages Set First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) PT at $27.60

Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.60.

Several analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th.

First Busey Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ BUSE opened at $27.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.97. First Busey has a twelve month low of $17.51 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $116.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $116.65 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.10% and a net margin of 17.18%. Research analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 19th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Busey news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total value of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 264 shares of company stock worth $5,319 and sold 22,790 shares worth $536,477. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Busey by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,278,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,372,000 after buying an additional 55,224 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in First Busey by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,537,000 after purchasing an additional 57,392 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in First Busey by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,686,000 after purchasing an additional 72,800 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in First Busey by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,895,000 after purchasing an additional 212,782 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in First Busey by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 947,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,937,000 after acquiring an additional 163,042 shares in the last quarter. 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.