First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Short Interest Update

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during 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 currently 8.2 days. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Busey news, Director Stanley J. Bradshaw bought 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.70 per share, for a total transaction of $36,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 482,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,462,503.10. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Busey

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter worth $3,689,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 39.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 124,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,934,000 after buying an additional 35,360 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 596.4% in the 4th quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 133,264 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,141,000 after buying an additional 114,129 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter worth $721,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of First Busey by 65.4% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 114,808 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,706,000 after buying an additional 45,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Busey Price Performance

First Busey stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.02. 79,635 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 271,354. The company’s fifty day moving average is $23.45 and its 200-day moving average is $24.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.84. First Busey has a 52 week low of $21.21 and a 52 week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that First Busey 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. Investors of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 50.76%.

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.