First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Short Interest Up 20.6% in February

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,040,000 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the February 13th total of 2,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 369,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BUSE shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $22.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. First Busey has a 12-month low of $21.21 and a 12-month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 17.14%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in First Busey by 2.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of First Busey by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 7,396 shares of the bank’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 30,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of First Busey by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 111,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 161.1% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the period. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by 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.