11,866 Shares in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Bought by EntryPoint Capital LLC

EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,866 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Busey by 1,173.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in First Busey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $171,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of First Busey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $245,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Busey Price Performance

Shares of BUSE opened at $22.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.41 and its 200-day moving average is $24.68. First Busey Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.21 and a fifty-two week high of $28.97.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.53 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts forecast that First Busey Co. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

First Busey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 24th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. This is a positive change from First Busey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 24th. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BUSE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $33.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of First Busey in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of First Busey from $32.00 to $28.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

First Busey 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.