First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the four brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.00.

BUSE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw acquired 1,700 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at $10,462,503.10. This represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in First Busey during the 4th quarter worth $9,115,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 121.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 565,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,317,000 after buying an additional 309,301 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the fourth quarter worth about $5,498,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,850,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in First Busey by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 671,402 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,825,000 after acquiring an additional 189,115 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of First Busey stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.59. 62,242 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 295,930. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.31 and a 200 day moving average of $24.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $21.13 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. On average, analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s payout ratio is 50.76%.

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.