Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 16,256 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 55.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 45,350 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,256 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in First Busey were worth $1,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in First Busey by 39.2% in the fourth 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. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Busey by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 15,829 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,294,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in First Busey by 81.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 135,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,516,000 after purchasing an additional 60,506 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Stock Up 2.3 %

BUSE stock opened at $22.13 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.15 and its 200-day moving average is $23.56. First Busey Co. has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 18th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 437,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BUSE. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James reduced their price target on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

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.