First Busey’s (BUSE) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $29.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Busey Trading Up 1.9 %

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $23.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey has a 1-year low of $21.59 and a 1-year high of $28.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $24.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.53.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, equities analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Huntington National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth $38,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in First Busey during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter valued at about $171,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth about $224,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.