Martingale Asset Management L P Lowers Stock Holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its stake in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 16.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,117 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,007 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in First Busey were worth $1,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the second quarter worth about $34,000. Huntington National Bank purchased a new position in shares of First Busey during the third quarter worth about $38,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in First Busey by 257.4% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Busey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Price Performance

BUSE stock opened at $26.69 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.73 and a 200-day moving average of $25.18. First Busey Co. has a 12-month low of $21.38 and a 12-month high of $28.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 0.84.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $170.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $118.32 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. StockNews.com raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Stephens lowered First Busey from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Busey from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

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.