First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Given Outperform Rating at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated their outperform rating on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $31.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $28.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BUSE. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Busey from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, July 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $27.25.

First Busey Stock Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $28.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. First Busey has a one year low of $17.51 and a one year high of $28.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.86.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). First Busey had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 17.18%. The company had revenue of $110.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.06 million. On average, analysts anticipate that First Busey will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 19th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 48.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other First Busey news, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,107,088.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Van A. Dukeman sold 16,539 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $389,328.06. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,092,960.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Joseph Powers sold 6,090 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.54, for a total transaction of $143,358.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 89,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,107,088.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 365 shares of company stock valued at $7,725 and sold 25,090 shares valued at $591,240. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Busey

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in First Busey by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,278,444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $81,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,224 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $55,475,000 after purchasing an additional 26,829 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in First Busey by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,552,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,537,000 after purchasing an additional 57,392 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in First Busey by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,359,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,686,000 after purchasing an additional 72,800 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in First Busey by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,159,907 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,895,000 after purchasing an additional 212,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 56.49% 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.