Citadel Advisors LLC Purchases 102,029 Shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE)

Citadel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) by 96.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,956 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 102,029 shares during the quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.37% of First Busey worth $4,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in First Busey by 161.1% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Busey by 822.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in First Busey by 507.5% in 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. 56.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Busey Trading Down 0.4%

BUSE opened at $22.48 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey Co. has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $140.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.15 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 18th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 93.46%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BUSE. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a 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, Piper Sandler cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.80.

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.