First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) Price Target Raised to $27.00

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) had its target price boosted by Raymond James Financial from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on BUSE. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Busey in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Busey in a research note on Monday, June 30th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Busey from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of First Busey in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Busey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

First Busey Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:BUSE opened at $24.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.67 and a beta of 0.77. First Busey has a twelve month low of $18.40 and a twelve month high of $28.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $140.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.15 million. First Busey had a return on equity of 8.46% and a net margin of 8.32%. Equities research analysts expect that First Busey will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Busey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. First Busey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Busey

In other news, Director Steven W. Caple purchased 1,175 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.60 per share, for a total transaction of $25,380.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 4,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,394.40. This trade represents a 35.24% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen M. Jensen purchased 4,000 shares of First Busey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $22.00 per share, with a total value of $88,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 76,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,496. This trade represents a 5.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 13,125 shares of company stock valued at $286,148 over the last 90 days. 3.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Busey

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BUSE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Busey by 52.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,706,925 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $101,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,613,848 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,096,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,262 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $19,861,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Busey by 648.8% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 918,907 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,848,000 after acquiring an additional 796,197 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Busey during the 1st quarter valued at $16,837,000. 56.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.