First Busey’s (BUSE) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $26.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of First Busey from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.00.

First Busey Stock Performance

First Busey stock opened at $23.59 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.87. First Busey has a fifty-two week low of $21.59 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 EPS 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, equities research analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. This is a boost from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s payout ratio is presently 50.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new stake in First Busey during the third quarter valued at approximately $757,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in First Busey by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 482,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,549,000 after buying an additional 39,900 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 168.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 149,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,884,000 after purchasing an additional 93,733 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,295,804 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,723,000 after purchasing an additional 22,096 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Busey by 61.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 41,550 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 15,829 shares during the last quarter. 56.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.