First Busey Co. (BUSE) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 17th

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, April 18th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Friday, April 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th.

First Busey has increased its dividend by an average of 1.8% annually over the last three years. First Busey has a payout ratio of 35.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect First Busey to earn $2.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.5%.

First Busey Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $19.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 0.75. First Busey has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released 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 net margin of 17.14% and a return on equity of 8.94%. On average, equities analysts predict that First Busey will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed 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. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on First Busey from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.80.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw purchased 1,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $23.75 per share, with a total value of $43,652.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 437,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,390,173.75. This represents a 0.42 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Company Profile

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.