First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) PT Raised to $33.00

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $31.00 to $33.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BUSE. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of First Busey from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, July 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Busey presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $28.60.

First Busey Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $27.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.90. First Busey has a 52-week low of $17.51 and a 52-week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $116.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.65 million. First Busey had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 9.26%. Sell-side analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s payout ratio is 48.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In other news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,092,960.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares in the company, valued at $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 264 shares of company stock valued at $5,319 and have sold 22,790 shares valued at $536,477. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in First Busey by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,686,000 after buying an additional 72,800 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 3,072.7% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 34,900 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 33,800 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of First Busey by 22.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,895,000 after acquiring an additional 212,782 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of First Busey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 24,314 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in First Busey by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 17,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.