First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives $28.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $27.80.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.70 per share, with a total value of $36,890.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares in the company, valued at $10,462,503.10. The trade was a 0.35 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Busey by 161.1% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in First Busey by 507.5% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $19.21 on Wednesday. First Busey has a twelve month low of $18.59 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.