First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Analysts

First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ:BUSE) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

Several analysts recently commented on BUSE shares. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of First Busey from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Busey in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Piper Sandler cut shares of First Busey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $35.00 to $30.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael Cassens sold 1,441 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total transaction of $43,878.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 130,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,958,865.40. This trade represents a 1.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BUSE. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in First Busey by 45.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 142,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,600,000 after buying an additional 44,551 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter worth about $1,743,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 475,547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,017,000 after acquiring an additional 65,745 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,712,000. Finally, Rhino Investment Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 101.3% in the 1st quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 492,113 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,436,000 after acquiring an additional 247,589 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $29.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey has a 1-year low of $22.00 and a 1-year high of $31.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $30.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.55.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $194.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.59 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 10.48% and a net margin of 21.00%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Busey will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 24th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 24th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. First Busey’s payout ratio is 42.98%.

First Busey Company Profile

First Busey Corporation is a financial holding company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois. Its principal subsidiary, Busey Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, institutions and municipalities.

Busey Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, treasury management, trust services and other financial solutions. Through Busey Wealth Management, the company also provides investment management, financial planning, private banking and fiduciary services.