First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $21.56 and last traded at $21.57, with a volume of 518561 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BUSE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Monday, February 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down previously 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

First Busey Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.65 and a 200 day moving average of $25.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. First Busey had a net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. As a group, research analysts predict that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.64%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 50.76%.

Insider Activity

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $23.75 per share, for a total transaction of $43,652.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at $10,390,173.75. The trade was a 0.42 % 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $757,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in First Busey by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,549,000 after acquiring an additional 39,900 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 168.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after acquiring an additional 93,733 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Busey by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,723,000 after acquiring an additional 22,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of First Busey by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,035,000 after purchasing an additional 15,829 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.