Cwm LLC Has $115,000 Stock Position in First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Cwm LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 103.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,322 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in First Busey were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in First Busey by 19.0% in the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 50,566 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after acquiring an additional 8,064 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in First Busey by 49.1% in the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 24,582 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 8,099 shares during the period. Rosenthal Henry Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,081,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in First Busey by 2.6% in 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 during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in First Busey in the first quarter valued at approximately $675,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BUSE. DA Davidson raised their price objective on First Busey from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group began coverage on First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on First Busey from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Busey news, Director Steven W. Caple purchased 1,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,394.40. The trade was a 35.24% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.25 per share, for a total transaction of $58,125.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 83,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,956. This trade represents a 3.08% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 15,625 shares of company stock worth $344,273 over the last quarter. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Busey Stock Down 0.7%

BUSE stock opened at $22.62 on Thursday. First Busey Corporation has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.09 and its 200-day moving average is $22.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 0.77.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.02. First Busey had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $192.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $193.91 million. Sell-side analysts expect that First Busey Corporation will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.29%.

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.