First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Now Covered by Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $30.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

BUSE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stephens reiterated 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 Financial lowered their target price on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group initiated coverage on First Busey in a report on Monday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Busey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock opened at $23.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $22.21 and its 200 day moving average is $22.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 0.77. First Busey has a one year low of $18.40 and a one year high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 8.32%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.19%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 93.46%.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other news, Director Steven W. Caple acquired 1,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,509 shares in the company, valued at $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $88,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 76,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,496. This represents a 5.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 13,125 shares of company stock valued at $286,148. Corporate insiders own 3.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 23.7% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.6% during the first quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 21,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 2.7% during the first quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 20,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $174,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 56.4% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

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.