First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given “Overweight” Rating at Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $28.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Busey from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Busey has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $25.75.

First Busey Trading Down 0.6 %

BUSE opened at $23.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.64. First Busey has a 1-year low of $16.26 and a 1-year high of $25.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.85.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $108.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.74 million. First Busey had a net margin of 18.08% and a return on equity of 9.49%. Analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.48%.

Insider Transactions at First Busey

In related news, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.40 per share, for a total transaction of $61,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 45,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,274. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.02, for a total value of $52,946.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 141,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,252,219.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.40 per share, with a total value of $61,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 45,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,274. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 4,917 shares of company stock worth $117,215 and sold 6,900 shares worth $157,182. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,053,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 605,177 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,632,000 after buying an additional 34,034 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC boosted its position in First Busey by 742.9% in the 3rd quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 1,320,225 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,375,000 after buying an additional 1,163,596 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Busey by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,886,341 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,475,000 after buying an additional 26,829 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in First Busey by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 385,328 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,406,000 after buying an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.