First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Hits New 52-Week Low at $20.14

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE – Get Rating) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $20.14 and last traded at $20.91, with a volume of 32934 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $20.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BUSE shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of First Busey from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 30th.

First Busey Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.05 and a beta of 0.89.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 20th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 19th. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George Barr sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.86, for a total value of $198,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,992 shares in the company, valued at $2,386,361.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director George Barr sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.86, for a total value of $198,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 95,992 shares in the company, valued at $2,386,361.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.59 per share, with a total value of $107,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 37,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,181.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 14,500 shares of company stock worth $325,330 and sold 32,999 shares worth $816,431. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 102,760.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,102,710 shares of the bank’s stock worth $793,579,000 after purchasing an additional 32,071,500 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,148.1% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,258 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,757,000 after buying an additional 352,551 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 13.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,818,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,084,000 after buying an additional 220,093 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 54.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 572,567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,154,000 after buying an additional 202,737 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Busey by 4.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,966,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $65,216,000 after buying an additional 117,583 shares during the period. 49.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Busey

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First Busey Corp. is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services through its wholly-owned bank subsidiary. It operates through the following segments: Banking, First Tech, and Wealth Management. The Banking segment offers a range of services to individual and corporate customers through its banking center network.