First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.3333.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down previously from $28.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, December 1st.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $24.02 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.33. First Busey has a 1-year low of $18.40 and a 1-year high of $27.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89 and a beta of 0.80.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 20th. The bank reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter. First Busey had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 9.05%. The firm had revenue of $63.34 million for the quarter. Analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Mike Maddox bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.52 per share, with a total value of $25,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 40,280 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,945.60. This trade represents a 2.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Scott A. Phillips purchased 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.64 per share, with a total value of $34,614.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,254. This trade represents a 135.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 5,350 shares of company stock valued at $133,934. Company insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BUSE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in First Busey by 94.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,135,906 shares of the bank’s stock worth $165,196,000 after acquiring an additional 3,464,965 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,613,848 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 45.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,262 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $19,861,000. Finally, Mirabella Financial Services LLP purchased a new position in shares of First Busey in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,113,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.