First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

First Busey Co. (NASDAQ:BUSE) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the four analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.75.

Several research firms have weighed in on BUSE. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of First Busey in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut First Busey from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Activity at First Busey

In related news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.02, for a total transaction of $52,946.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 141,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,252,219.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael David Cassens sold 2,300 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.02, for a total value of $52,946.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 141,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,252,219.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.40 per share, for a total transaction of $61,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,274. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 4,817 shares of company stock valued at $114,780 and have sold 6,900 shares valued at $157,182. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of First Busey by 1,143.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the fourth quarter worth about $249,000. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Busey in the third quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in First Busey by 40.6% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.49% of the company’s stock.

First Busey Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ BUSE opened at $23.09 on Friday. First Busey has a 52 week low of $16.26 and a 52 week high of $25.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.85.

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

First Busey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio is 48.48%.

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.